Goya board moves to silence CEO over his continued denial of Trump’s loss in election
Goya Foods has voted to silence its pro-Trump CEO Robert Unanue following his recent television appearances questioning the results of the presidential election, the New York Post reports having learned.
The Hispanic foods giant on Friday agreed to censure Unanue, 67, for controversial remarks in the wake of the deadly Jan. 6 invasion of the US Capitol building, including on Jan. 20, when he called President Biden’s election “unverified” during an appearance on the Fox Business channel.
The vote by a majority of Goya’s nine-member board means Unanue must now obtain board permission before making any more media appearances, sources close to the situation said.
“Bob does not speak for Goya Foods when he speaks on TV,” Goya board member and third-generation owner Andy Unanue told the New York Post last week leading up to the vote. “The family has diverse views on politics, but politics is not part of our business. Our political point-of-views are irrelevant.”
“I think this it is mission accomplished. Mission accomplished by the union, the partnership, the conglomerate of social media, Big Tech, big media and government, big government, for ushering in the dawn of a new world order. This great reset,” Robert Unanue said on the Fox Business program “Mornings With Maria [Bartiromo]” last week. “With an unverified election, and the big prize is the United States.”
Robert Unanue on Monday declined to comment on the vote but acknowledged that he’s having second thoughts about publicizing his political views.
“Independently, I’ve made the decision to lower the temperature and walk away from speaking about politics and religion,” he said. “I realize it’s important because of the diverse views of the company and our market.”
The CEO, who personally owns less than 5% of the business, didn’t fully close the door on speaking out, either. “I don’t believe I should speak politically or in a faith-based manner on behalf of the company,” he said. “But I leave open the possibility of speaking on behalf of myself.”
The head of the seller of canned beans and tropical drinks has been at odds with some of his fellow directors since July, when he declared that the U.S. was “truly blessed” to have Donald Trump as president.
The Margin (July 2020): ‘Bullsh—’: CNN’s Chris Cuomo gets fired up over President Trump’s Goya advertisement from the White House
That led to calls for a boycott of the company — founded in Manhattan in 1936 by immigrants from Spain Prudencio Unanue and his wife, Carolina — by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and other critics who said Trump had vilified people from Mexico and Latin America.
“Oh, look, it’s the sound of me Googling ‘how to make your own Adobo,’ ” the congresswoman famously tweeted in response to Unanue’s July 9 remarks.
The #boycottgoya initiative that did emerge was countered by calls for a “buycott” — a reactive movement best represented by Ivanka Trump’s tweet of a photo of herself holding a can of Goya black beans alongside the company’s slogan, “If it’s Goya, it has to be good,” in English and Spanish.
Goya shareholders have argued internally ever since, with some claiming that their CEO has been costing them sales by alienating core customers.
“We should be growing more than we are,” a Goya source said. The source said that while Goya sales are up overall due to the pandemic, which has been driving up the sale of canned goods generally, sales growth has cooled since the boycott kicked off in July.
Nielsen data show sales of Goya beans grew 82% — and its rice by 85% — for the nine weeks ended June 1, according to publication Food Dive. Sales in recent weeks, by contrast, are up only 10% from a year ago, the source said.
Some Goya shareowners have also asked the board to present a motion to remove Unanue as CEO because he’s been using the company as a platform to promote his political views, sources said.
“More than 50% of the shareholders do not want Bob to be the CEO,” a Goya source said. “All these political statements that Bob is making [are] dangerous for the company and for us personally as owners,” this person added.
“It will hurt the Unanue name and company if he continues,” a second Goya source and shareholder said. “He should be thrown out as CEO. I think it’s really hurting us.”
In an interview with last week leading up to Friday’s vote, CEO Unanue acknowledged that his job was on the line. “I’m attacked by my own family,” he said. “I could be fired tomorrow … whatever. It’s touch and go.”
As the New York Post exclusively reported last year, Unanue narrowly escaped losing his job when he nixed an effort to sell a minority stake in the company to a private-equity investor that would have brought in a non-family-member CEO for the first time in the company’s 85-year history.
In the same pre-vote interview, Unanue argued that Goya’s sales are booming, due in part to the “buycott” and his fight against “cancel culture.”
“We’ve kept our base and expanded the general market,” he said, referring to Trump supporters.
Last month, he named Ocasio-Cortez “employee of the month,” saying sales spiked following her criticism of the company, which he characterized as a boycott call.
“I believe the Holy Spirit put the word ‘blessed’ on my lips,” Unanue said of his July 9 remarks on the White House lawn, which led to the backlash.
Still, he said he was heartened by Biden’s inaugural address. “I was very thrilled to hear Biden call for unity and prayer. I respect him. I just don’t know if everyone [on the left] agrees with him.”
“If President Biden gets his way, it’s good,” he said.
A version of this report appears at NYPost.com.
MarketWatch contributed.
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