Blessings and business

Photographer: MARLENE QUARONI | FC

Augusto Ledesma, Carlos Unanue, Peter Unanue, Tom Unanue, Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, Dianna Unanue, Frank Unanue, Tommy Unanue, Bob Unanue and Jorge Unanue cut the ribbon to open their new west Miami-Dade facility. Msgr. Franklyn Casale, St. Thomas University president, stands off to the side after blessing a portion of the facility.

DORAL — Honesty and fairness to employees, suppliers and customers has enabled Goya Foods to be blessed by God, according to one of the owners of the family-run business.

“You have to run your business like a Christian,” said Tom Unanue, vice-president of the Florida division of the company, which was founded in 1936 by immigrants from Spain and is now the largest, Hispanic-owned food company in the United States.

Goya recently opened a state-of-the-art distribution center in West Miami-Dade, the largest of the New Jersey-based company’s 16 facilities.

Unanue, a descendant of the founders, made sure that the new facility received a Catholic blessing.

“Every day, the employees were asking us, when are you going to have the building blessed?” Unanue said.

Msgr. Franklyn Casale, president of St. Thomas University and a longtime friend of the family, was among several family members, friends and elected officials at a ribbon-cutting party Oct. 26.

“The Unanue family, owners of the business, were very active in the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, where I was vicar general,” said Msgr. Casale. “The family gave a major gift to build the Institute of Workforce Enhancement at (St. Thomas). I’m very grateful to them for their contributions.”

Archbishop Thomas Wenski also was on hand to congratulate and give his blessing to the Unanue family.

After arriving from Spain, Don Prudencio Unanue and his wife, Carolina, started the Latin food company in a small storefront in lower Manhattan. Catering to local Hispanic families, their motto has always been, “If it’s Goya, it has to be good.”

The company grew over the years into a leader in the Latin American food industry. At 75, it has 3,500 employees and distributes 1,600 products. Their corporate offices are in Secaucus, N.J., with other facilities throughout the U.S., the Caribbean and Spain.

“The new facility will serve as Goya’s main distribution center for South Florida and exports to Central and South America, the western Caribbean and Africa,” said Unanue. “The warehouse is 338,000 square feet, with 60,000 square feet of refrigerated space.”

Among elected officials on hand for the grand opening of the facility was Jennifer Carroll, Florida’s lieutenant governor, who praised the Unanue family.

“Your family is an American dream come true,” she said.

The Unanue family believes in giving back to their community. Goya Foods has been a proud supporter of programs and activities that benefit families and children throughout the world. They have taken the lead in numerous disaster relief efforts, providing food donations in times of crisis and consistently working with local food banks to assist those in need.

“On the 75th day of Goya’s 75th year, several Goya distribution centers in the U.S. simultaneously donated 75,000 pounds of food, a total of nearly one million pounds, to their local food pantries,” Unanue said.