Scope and Contents

The Goya Foods, Incorporated Collection documents the history of the company from the 1960s to 2000. (A few earlier documents pertaining to Unanue and Sons and family photographs can be found in the collection, as well.) Materials include photographs, calendars, sales promotional materials, cookbooks, recipe packages, point-of-purchase items, and box and can labels, scrapbooks, and clippings files. Sound recordings, televisions advertisements, and anniversary video productions are also included. The material documents sales meetings, plant activities, and workers' events as well as the office life of the company and the philanthropic efforts and community activities of Goya Foods, Incorporated. Series 1, History and Biography 1960s-1990s, includes photographs and biographies of the Unanue family members. Also includes company anniversary programs. Series 2, United States Publicity Materials, 1970-2000, undated, contains extensive files of news clippings (compiled by an outside agency) arranged in chronological order. Also, press releases and publicity materials and copies of the newsletter La Voz Femenina[2], 1982-1989. Series 3, United States Photographs, 1960s-1990s, includes photographs of Goya "sponsored" activities, which took place in the United States. The majority of the photos are unlabeled and undated. The series is divided into twelve subseries. Subseries 3.1, Parades and Festivals, 1966-1999, include parades and festivals which Goya participated in, mainly in New York City and New Jersey. For many parades, Goya created a special float for participants to ride on. Many parades feature pageant contestants (see Subseries D). Tito Puente is a frequent performer. Subseries 3.2, Parties and Banquets, 1970s-1990s, include many of the banquets and parties included are related to the various parades and pageants, this may or may not be obvious from looking at the photographs. Also included are employee parties. Subseries 3.3, Community Events, 1970s-1990s, Goya prides itself on its civic work within the Hispanic communities of the United States. This subseries reflects many of the events Goya has sponsored or been a part of, including its support of the Manhattan Valley Golden Age Senior Center and Casa de Don Pedro, a home for children. Subseries 3.4, Pageants, 1980s-1990s, include beauty pageants sponsored throughout the 1980s and 1990s, usually associated with a community parade (for example, a Dominican Parade Pageant). Sometimes the photos from the pageants and related events are included, though the parades themselves can be found in Subseries A. Subseries 3.5, Employees, Plants, and Offices, 1960s-1990s, include photographs of Goya employees (both line workers and executives), offices, and plant facilities. Events in which employees participated (dances, parties, and picnics) are included here. Subseries 3.6, Awards, 1970s-1990s, include awards given to the Unanues or Goya Foods, Incorporated by various organizations and awards given to others by Goya. Subseries 3.7, Celebrities, 1980s-1990s, mainly events with celebrities in attendance. Prominent people include: Cardinal Cooke, Gloria Estefan, Michael J. Fox, Ed Koch, Spike Lee, David Letterman, Olga Elena Mattei, and Tito Puente. Subseries 3.8, Sporting Events, Teams, and Awards, 1970s-1990s, soccer, baseball, bowling, volleyball, and softball teams are included, as well as little league teams and sporting workshop participants (mainly children with "professional" players). Teams are mostly Goya sponsored, though some professional players appear. Subseries 3.9, Concerts, 1980s-1990s, include Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, and Willie Colón concerts at Penns Landing, plus multi-city Festival de Musica Goya, 1990. Subseries 3.10, Trade Shows, 1966, 1980s, include Food expositions, trade shows, and demonstrations. Subseries 3.11, Travel, 1970s-1990s, trips taken by [presumably] Goya employees. Santo Domingo, Peru, and Haiti were destinations. Subseries 3.12, Unidentified, 1970s-1990s Sub-subseries 3.12.1, Parade related events, 1980s-1990s Sub-subseries 3.12.2, Other, 1970s-1990s Series 4, United States Corporate Materials, 1960s-1990s, includes product labels and packaging, advertising materials, press kits, and memos. Series 5, Puerto Rican Publicity Materials, 1980s-2000, consists of publications arranged chronologically within each title. Series 6, Puerto Rican Photographs, 1960s-2000; undated, include photographs documenting events sponsored by Goya in Puerto Rico. The majority of the photographs were not identified or dated. The items that could be identified were arranged by subject including parades, parties, banquets, community events, employees, plants, offices, award ceremonies, sporting events, travel and products. Subseries 6.1, Parades, 1977, include images from one parade, Reina el Dario la Prenza. Subseries 6.2, Parties and Banquets, 1970-1996, primarily document employee parties. Subseries 6.3, Community Events, 1972-1999; undated, documents Goya's involvement with the Puerto Rican community and some of the events that the company sponsored. Subseries 6.4, Employees, Plants, and Offices, 1961-1999, undated, include images of Goya employees (both line workers and executives), offices, and plant facilities. Events in which employees participated (dances, parties, and picnics) are included here.

Subseries 6.5, Awards, 1970s-1996; undated, awards given to the Unanues or Goya Foods, Incorproated by various organizations and awards given to others by Goya. Subseries 6.6, Sporting Events, Teams, and Awards, 1970s, contains one (1) folder of sporting events and teams sponsored by Goya. Subseries 6.7, Travel, 1960s; undated, document trip(s) taken by [presumably] Goya employees primarily to Boca Cagrejos and Puerto Rico. Subseries 6.8, Products, 2000, undated, contain images of Goya products and of a photograph shoot for an advertisement. Series 7, Puerto Rican Corporate Materials, 1970s-2000, included are office forms, blank letterhead, advertising materials, press kits, annual reports, and newsletters. Series 8, Audiovisual Materials, 1990s; undated, consists of commercials and biographical programs on the Unanues. ** No reference copies exist for most audiovisual materials; please see the Reference Archivist for availability in viewing.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in eight (8) series: Series 1, History and Biography 1960s-1990s, Series 2, United States Publicity Materials, 1970-2000; undated Series 3, United States Photographs, 1960s-1999; undated Subseries 3.1, Parades and Festivals, 1966-1999 Subseries 3.2, Parties and Banquets, 1970s-1990s Subseries 3.3, Community Events, 1970s-1990s Subseries 3.4, Pageants, 1980s-1994 Subseries 3.5, Employees, Plants, and Offices, 1960s-1990s Subseries 3.6, Awards, 1970s-1990s Subseries 3.7, Celebrities, 1980s-1990s Subseries 3.8, Sporting Events, Teams, and Awards, 1970s-1990s Subseries 3.9, Concerts, 1987-1990; undated Subseries 3.10, Trade Shows, 1966-1994; undated Subseries 3.11, Travel, 1970s-1996 Subseries 3.12, Unidentified, 1970s-1990s Sub-subseries 3.12.1, Parade related events, 1983-1993 Sub-subseries 3.12.2, Other, 1970s-1992; undated Series 4, United States Corporate Materials, 1960s-1990s Series 5, Puerto Rican Publicity Materials, 1980s-2000 Series 6, Puerto Rican Photographs, 1960s-2000; undated Subseries 6.1, Parades, 1977 Subseries 6.2, Parties and Banquets, 1970-1996 Subseries 6.3, Community Events, 1972-1999, undated Subseries 6.4 Employees, Plants, and Offices, 1961-1999, undated Subseries 6.5, Awards, 1970s-1996, undated Subseries 6.6, Sporting Events, Teams, and Awards, 1970s Subseries 6.7, Travel, 1960s, undated Subseries 6.8, Products, 2000, undated Series 7, Puerto Rican Corporate Materials, 1970s-2000; undated Series 8, Audiovisual Materials, 1990s, undated

Biographical / Historical

Prudencio Unanue (1886-1976) was born in the Basque region of northern Spain. He immigrated to the island of Puerto Rico in 1902 and married Carolina Casal (1890-1984) in 1921. In 1916, he moved to New York where he studied business and worked for a customs agency. Missing the tastes and smells of home cooking, the Unanues believed that there was an expanding immigrant market for the ingredients of "authentic Spanish cuisine." In 1936, they opened Unanue, Incorporated, a warehouse on Duane Street in lower Manhattan, to supply corner stores or bodegas. Over thirty years, the Unanue and Sons import business grew tremendously. Eventually, the business began to do its own food processing, canning, and packaging. In 1958, Goya Foods bought its first factory in Brooklyn, New York. The Unanues and Sons Company purchased the name "Goya"[1] in 1936 from a Moroccan sardine supplier for one dollar. In 1946, the company changed its name to Unanue and Sons, Incorporated. It assumed the name Goya Foods, Incorporated in 1961, although it had used the name Goya for its products since 1936. Goya Foods Company continued to innovate, pioneering television advertising in Puerto Rico. During the 1960s, Goya Foods sought out opportunities to expand its customer base as larger numbers of Caribbean immigrants moved into the United States. By sponsoring music festivals, sports teams, and other activities Goya Foods supported the cultural life; parades, beauty pageants, festivals, of various communities in the United States and Puerto Rico. In 1974, Goya Foods moved to its current office headquarters and factory building in Secaucus, New Jersey. By 2000, Goya owned factories in upstate New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas, Florida, as well as Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Spain.

Related Materials

Government of Puerto Rico Division of Community Education Posters, Teodoro Vidal Collection, and Tito Puente Papers.