In 1936, Prudencio Unanue had a vision that lives on today: to provide authentic Spanish foods to the Latino population in America.

Since the company started, by selling imported ingredients like olives, olive oil, and sardines out of a small storefront in Manhattan, Goya Foods Inc., has become an American household name and grown into an international food titan with more than 3,000 employees. Yet, many of the original mom-and-pop store values remain intact. Goya has avoided the temptations of oversimplification; it provides more than 1,600 products, including, the slower-selling specialty products larger corporations tend to forgo, and they still do direct, customized deliveries to small stores.

It is also a rare third-generation, family-run business, perhaps the reason why so much of the original philosophy has remained intact.