who owns goya
Goya Foods is privately owned by the Unanue family, the descendants of its founders, and is not a publicly traded company.
Who owns Goya Foods?
- Goya Foods is a family-owned private company.
- Ownership is held by multiple members of the Unanue family (third generation and beyond), not by public shareholders.
- The company was founded in 1936 by Prudencio Unanue and his wife Carolina, Spanish immigrants who started with a small grocery business in New York City.
Current family control and leadership
- Goya remains under Unanue family control through a family-held board of directors; reports describe a board made up entirely of Unanue family members.
- Over time, shares have been divided among descendants, which has led to internal disputes and lawsuits, but the company has stayed in the family rather than being sold to outside investors.
- Robert “Bob” Unanue, a grandson of the founder, served as CEO starting in 2004; recent coverage details boardroom conflict and legal battles around his role, but does not indicate any sale of the company outside the family.
Quick facts about Goya today
- Largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States, with more than 2,500 products in its portfolio.
- Headquartered in New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Spain, and other locations.
- Still described in 2026 corporate materials and trade profiles as a privately held, family-owned business.
| Aspect | Details about who owns Goya |
|---|---|
| Type of ownership | Privately held, not listed on any stock exchange. | [1][7]
| Owning group | Unanue family (founder’s descendants). | [7][1]
| Founders | Prudencio Unanue and his wife Carolina, Spanish immigrants in New York (1936). | [9][1][7]
| Control structure | Family board, described as composed entirely of Unanue family members. | [3][1][7]
| Public investors | None; no public stock available. | [1][7]
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.
