Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is named ‘Employee of the Month’ at Goya Foods. Here’s why
The CEO of Goya Foods has declared Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as the company’s “Employee of the Month” after sales spiked.
CEO Robert Unanue, while appearing on “The Michael Berry Show” on Monday, credited the Democratic congresswoman with their sales spike after the company came under fire for his support of President Donald Trump.
“She was actually our employee of the month ... when she boycotted us, our sales actually increased 1,000%,” Unanue said. “We never were able to hand it to her, but she got employee of the month for bringing attention to Goya and our adobo. Actually, our sales of adobo did very well after she said, ‘make your own adobo’ ... she’s our hero, she helped boost sales tremendously.”
Unanue publicly supported Trump during a White House visit in July.
“We’re all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder,” Unanue said.
Many voiced their criticism of the Latin food brand. Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro said Goya was a “staple” in Latino households, but he encouraged people to seek alternatives after Unanue’s remarks about Trump.
“Now their CEO, Bob Unanue, is praising a president who villainizes and maliciously attacks Latinos for political gain. Americans should think twice before buying their products,” Castro wrote on Twitter in July.
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on July 9 that she was “Googling ‘how to make your own Adobo.”
Trump later tweeted his support for Goya: “Goya Foods is doing GREAT. The Radical Left smear machine backfired, people are buying like crazy!” Trump wrote, according to NBC News.
In regards to her “employee of the month” title, the congresswoman denied leading a boycott of Goya Foods, writing on Twitter on Tuesday that she “just googled how to make my own adobo.”
“But of course Fox would rather indulge their made up fantasies than acknowledge that in the Trump admin’s catastrophic response to COVID, millions of people rushed to buy canned goods which then had to be rationed at grocery stores,” she added.
Others on social media pointed out that Ocasio-Cortez isn’t the only factor behind the spike in sales.
“I’m sure the spike in Goya sales had nothing to do with the fact that restaurants were shut down and people were cooking at home and spending a lot more money at the grocery store,” one Twitter user wrote.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 8:12 AM with the headline "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is named ‘Employee of the Month’ at Goya Foods. Here’s why."