Building Growth Through Experience and Strategic Vision

Andy Unanue, Managing Partner

What is AUA Private Equity’s core mission, and how does your partnership-first approach shape the way you work with businesses?

AUA Private Equity Partners helps founder- and family-owned businesses grow, create lasting value, and protect the legacy they have built. Our core mission is to combine strategic capital with hands-on operational expertise, giving business owners the resources and support they need to pursue their next stage of growth without compromising what makes their companies unique. Our partnership-first approach begins with alignment. We structure investments to align the interests of founders, management teams, and investors, while tailoring capital solutions to each company’s specific goals rather than applying a one-size-fits-all model.

Our involvement extends well beyond the initial investment. We work closely with management teams to strengthen manufacturing, marketing, and distribution capabilities, improve operations, and pursue strategic add-on acquisitions where appropriate. Because many members of our team have firsthand experience operating and growing family businesses, we understand the complexities of succession, legacy preservation, and accelerated growth. This practical perspective allows us to build trusted relationships with founders and families while providing the strategic guidance, resources, and operational support needed to create sustainable, long-term value.

Could you explain AUA Private Equity’s investment strategy and the types of businesses or industries you primarily focus on?

AUA Private Equity Partners combines deep sector expertise with flexible investment structures to help lower-middle-market, founder- and family-owned businesses scale and create long-term value. We focus primarily on consumer products and services serving the fast-growing U.S. Hispanic and multicultural consumer markets. Our investment approach is adaptable, with structures including leveraged and management buyouts, growth equity, recapitalizations, and buy-and-build or roll-up strategies, depending on each company’s needs and objectives.

Within the consumer sector, we invest across food and beverage, wellness, pet, private-label businesses, and consumer-focused services such as manufacturing, logistics, co-manufacturing, family entertainment, and active lifestyle companies. Our operational approach is demonstrated through investments such as Western Smokehouse Partners, where we supported production expansion, automation, commercial strategy, and the acquisition of Golden Valley Natural, more than doubling the business in two years. We have applied similar strategies with Raymundo’s Food Group and Tropical Cheese Industries, supporting operational improvements, brand development, and strategic expansion. This combination of sector focus, flexible structures, and operational expertise enables AUA to meet founders at different stages of their growth and succession journeys.

What differentiates AUA Private Equity Partners from other investment firms operating in the lower-middle-market segment?

AUA Private Equity Partners stands apart through the combination of operational expertise, sector specialization, demographic insight, and a genuine partnership-first approach. Rather than simply providing capital, our team brings firsthand experience operating and growing family-owned businesses, enabling us to work alongside management teams to strengthen manufacturing, marketing, distribution, and strategic growth initiatives. This practical perspective allows us to understand the opportunities and challenges founders face and provide support that extends well beyond the investment itself.

Our differentiated investment strategy also centers on the fast-growing U.S. Hispanic and multicultural consumer markets, where we bring meaningful cultural insight and market fluency. Investments such as Tropical Cheese Industries, a family-owned Hispanic cheese and food brand, reflect our ability to identify opportunities within this dynamic consumer landscape. By combining operational depth with specialized sector knowledge and demographic insight, AUA builds partnerships designed around each company’s unique circumstances. Our objective is to help founders and family-owned businesses scale sustainably, pursue new opportunities, and create long-term value while preserving the values and identity that contributed to their success.

How would you describe the leadership philosophy and organizational culture at AUA Private Equity Partners?

At AUA Private Equity Partners, leadership is rooted in partnership, practical experience, and a commitment to creating value alongside the businesses we support. Having grown up in a family-owned business, I understand firsthand the dynamics, opportunities, and complexities that shape founder- and family-led companies. That experience strongly influences how I lead our team and engage with founders and management teams.

A key strength of our approach is our exclusive network of value-creation partners—experienced senior executives with whom we have built relationships for more than 20 years. These professionals have held leadership positions at companies such as Kellogg’s, Conagra, Nellson Nutraceutical, and Nestlé, bringing specialized expertise across operations, sales, branding, marketing, and financial management. We engage these partners directly with our portfolio companies to strengthen performance, optimize manufacturing processes, improve KPI tracking and financial discipline, and expand sales and distribution.

Internally, we foster the same collaborative, relationship-driven culture that defines our external partnerships. We also believe strong businesses contribute to strong communities, making initiatives such as food-bank support and English-as-a-Second-Language classrooms an integral part of how we operate.

How do demographic changes and the growth of the U.S. Hispanic population influence the investment opportunities you pursue?

The growth of the U.S. Hispanic and broader multicultural consumer base is a central consideration in how AUA Private Equity Partners identifies investment opportunities. We view this demographic shift as a long-term market development that is reshaping consumer demand, brand preferences, and purchasing power across the U.S. AUA seeks companies that already serve Hispanic consumers or have opportunities to expand their relevance within this growing market.

Our family-business experience and cultural understanding provide valuable perspective when evaluating these opportunities and helping companies scale authentically while preserving the qualities that resonate with their customers. This approach is reflected in our investment in Tropical Cheese Industries, a family-owned Hispanic food company, where AUA and its investment partner are supporting the company’s continued expansion while building on its established brand and family legacy.

Raymundo’s Food Group provides another example, having built a strong position in Hispanic-inspired refrigerated desserts before its 2024 sale. These experiences reinforce our focus on demographic-driven opportunities and continue to inform our sourcing, diligence, and partnership strategy.

What personal experiences and professional milestones shaped your journey into private equity and investment management?

My journey into private equity began not in finance, but within a family business. I grew up at Goya Foods, the company founded by my grandfather, working there from a young age before eventually serving as Chief Operating Officer. That experience gave me firsthand insight into the operational, cultural, and generational dynamics that influence how family-owned businesses grow, navigate challenges, and evolve over time.

When I founded AUA Private Equity Partners in 2011, I saw an opportunity to apply those lessons to help other founders and families address challenges I had experienced firsthand, particularly around growth, succession, and legacy preservation. Since then, building, scaling, and ultimately exiting businesses such as Western Smokehouse Partners and Raymundo’s Food Group, while supporting the continued growth of Tropical Cheese Industries, has reinforced that mission. Each experience has provided valuable lessons in operational improvement, strategic growth, and partnership. Ultimately, my journey has been about helping family-owned businesses professionalize, scale, and pursue new opportunities while remaining true to the values and entrepreneurial spirit that shaped them.

“Turning decades of operational insight into value-driven investment partnerships”

“Combining hands-on expertise with strategic capital to help businesses scale and thrive”