Goya Foods, the United States' largest Hispanic-owned food company, has expanded its West Coast headquarters, developing a distribution center and a new facility in Southern California as a response to growing demands for Goya products among immigrant populations and Americans.

The new West Coast facilities are part of a $300 million expansion.

Within the U.S. market, Latino food is expected to leap to $10.7 billion in 2017, an increase of 31 percent from $8.2 billion in 2012, according to Packaged Facts. Because of Goya's evolving tastes and customers' growing affluence, there's no one cornering the market quite like Goya, said Jim Prevor, a food analyst and founder of Perishable Pundit. Goya takes on native foods, and yet they add a unique "red-white-and-blue spin." On top of that, Latino shoppers tend to spend more money on groceries than other groups, and they will own $1.5 trillion in buying power in 2015.

Exceptionally healthy and nutritious, Goya is the sole Hispanic food company offering organic, low sodium, diet and sugar-free products. The mint 250,000-square foot facility will result in increased distribution and growth throughout the West, servicing surrounding states including Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Utah. Equipped with a warehouse management system, the new facility offers increased capacity for freezing, packing and railroad transit, which moves throughout the West Coast and connects to their new facility in Houston, TX.

"Based on our current sales and the influence of Latin culture on the food industry, it's an opportune time to expand in California, a marketable region that represents high-growth for Goya," Robert A. Unanue, great-grandson of Goya Foods founder Don Prudencio, said in a press release. "The new California facility will allow us to accelerate our reach and secure our position in one of the top regions of the United States while simultaneously allowing us to focus on the expansion of our healthy product lines."

Brown rice, beans, rice, quinoa, beans, vegetables, frozen vegetables, frozen fruits, coconut water and diet beverages, which are organic and low sodium. They manufacture, package and distribute over 2,200 high-quality food products from Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean, including olive oil and low sodium condiments.

"Goya's new California facility is part of the company's $300 million global expansion of four new state of the art manufacturing, production and distribution facilities in Texas, Georgia, and New Jersey, and will play a significant role in supporting our efforts to provide healthy products," said Bob Unanue, President of Goya Foods. "Since our collaboration with First Lady Michelle Obama, we've printed over 336 million cans marked with the MyPlate logo."

"We've not only provided consumers with healthy options that have 'good taste, are good for you and of good value,' key elements that resonate with our popular tagline 'If It's Goya, It Has To Be Good,' but we've provided the educational materials and aligned our overall communications in order to really make a difference in the well-being of our consumers."

The quarter-of-a-million-square-foot structure replaced the smaller 68,000-square-foot facility, located less than two miles away. Ninety individuals are employed at the facility, and Goya spokeswoman Oralia Michel publicly revealed they will likely hire 10 others.

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