Ethnicity Spanish, Puerto Rican | ||
Current region United States East Coast Place of origin Manhattan, New York City Members 12 (incl: Joseph A. Unanue
Andy Unanue
Robert Unanue) (CEO) | ||
The Unanue family of New York City is the second-wealthiest Hispanic or Latino family in the United States, having a net worth of US$1.1 billion in 2014.
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Its founder, Prudencio Unanue Ortiz, migrated from Spain in the 20th century and established Goya Foods, the largest Hispanic/Latino-owned food company in the United States. The family's members include Joseph A. Unanue and Andy Unanue. Goya Foods is the 377th largest private American company.
First generation
Founder of Goya Foods, Inc., Prudencio Unanue Ortiz was born in Villasana de Mena, in the province of Burgos, in northern Spain. At the age of seventeen, Unanue migrated to San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, in search of employment opportunities and established a small food distribution business. In 1918 he moved on to New York City, to enroll in the Albany Business School, and in 1921 returned to San Lorenzo to marry Carolina Casal de Valdés (1890-1984), whom he had met there and whose parents had also emigrated from Spain. The couple had four children. The year after their marriage, the Unanues moved to New Jersey, where Don Prudencio, as he was always known in his firm, became a broker for Spanish foods. He died in 1976.