“What is Goya in the Latino community? It is an icon, a statue, ”he said in the YouTube video. “The left wants to destroy all the icons.”
It is unclear how profoundly the boycott has reduced Goya’s bottom line, or whether the impact of the “buycott” has canceled it. Goya is a private company, so his records are not public.
At Jerry’s grocery store in the predominantly Latino community of Oak Cliff in Dallas, Goya’s products lined the shelves, as usual, and were purchased by a steady stream of customers this past weekend. In the Alamo Heights community of San Antonio, a cashier said managers at the La Michoacana supermarket have not said they would stop carrying Goya products. Guava paste and Salvadoran pickled salad, among other items, remained on the shelves.
But in Tucson, Arizona, Patrick Robles, a 19-year-old student at the University of Arizona, said his entire family was boycotting Goya’s products even though the company’s chickpeas had always been perfect for Mexican stew or stew. .
“It was a blow to the stomach for us,” Robles said of Unanue’s comments praising a president that Robles felt he routinely devalued Latinos. Now, they will turn to brands like La Costeña or Rosarita.
But Pamela Ramírez, a 48-year-old Mexican-American small business consultant in East Los Angeles, said she strongly opposed the boycott of Goya. Since there are a large number of Latinos employed by the company, she thinks that boycotting the product could harm her own community. For each of her Facebook friends she has posted about boycotting the product, Ms. Ramírez bought $ 10 in Goya products and donated it to a food bank, she said.
“You have to put your money where your mouth is,” he said. “If you don’t, then you’re just part of the problem.”
Contributing reports were Elda Lizzia Cantú, Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Río, Marina Trahan, Erin Coulehan and David Montgomery. Sheelagh McNeill contributed to the investigation.
