Publishing a press release to announce your own firing may not be common, but that didn’t stop Robert “Bob” Unanue.
On February 23, the former president of Goya Foods penned a press release announcing his departure from the business his grandfather started. “Today, Robert ‘Bob’ Unanue, with over 20 years as President and CEO of Goya Foods, is releasing a statement about his status with the organization as well as his plans for the future,” begins the release, posted via newswire.
"Today, Robert ‘Bob’ Unanue, with over 20 years as President and CEO of Goya Foods, is releasing a statement about his status with the organization as well as his plans for the future,” begins the release, posted via newswire."
"After 48 years of company service, Unanue was informed there had been a vote by the Board about his ‘employment’ as President of the company. As to the nature of the decision and the rationale behind it, Unanue currently has no real answers, noting the company also has not publicly indicated that Unanue is no longer a leader of Goya Foods.”
Goya foods was founded in 1936 by Spanish immigrant Prudencio Unanue Oritz, Unanue’s grandfather. Since, the New Jersey-based company has earned over a billion dollars in revenue annually. In 2014, Forbes named the Unanue family one of America’s wealthiest, with a net worth of 1.1 billion.
As of February 25, Goya Foods has yet to make a public statement about a change in leadership, though Unanue’s position has been controversial for years.
In June 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Unanue outraged customers when the CEO publicly praised President Donald Trump. Calls to boycott Goya Foods followed, and Unanue refused to apologize for a statement that isolated much of Goya’s customer base. The boycott of the staple food seemed to not have much effect on the brand’s sales, with Goya reporting a peak revenue of $1.5 billion in 2023.
Despite the backlash, Unanue continued to support President Trump, publicly latching on to election fraud claims following the 2020 election and blaming President Joe Biden for increased grocery prices and border security issues. He spoke at CPAC 2021, claiming Trump was “still the actual president of the United States.” The controversial commentary led to Goya’s board of directors censuring their CEO, stating that he could no longer speak to the media without prior board approval.
"Independently, I’ve made the decision to lower the temperature and walk away from speaking about politics and religion," Unanue told the New York Post of the board’s descision at the time. "I realize it's important because of the diverse views of the company and our market."
Still, Unanue took the stage to speak on the first night of the the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, embracing the “Make America Wealthy Again” theme and likening Vice President Kamala Harris’s name to “que mala”, which means “so bad” in Spanish.
Unclear what lead the board to finally dismiss Unanue after years of thorny actions, and Goya Foods has yet to comment.
Unanue wasn’t the only CEO to depart a major food company this week. Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher was replaced with the corporation’s CFO, Fernando Fernandez, after less than two years in the role.
“While the board is pleased with Unilever’s performance in 2024, there is much further to go to deliver best-in-class results," said Unilever’s Chairman Ian Meakins, of the board’s choice to oust Schumacher.
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