Serving Sacramento · Filipino American
Niño Jefferson Lim
Founder, Island Pacific Supermarket
Chose groceries over accounting and built the Filipino American chain with a store in Elk Grove.
Niño Jefferson Lim founded Island Pacific Supermarket, a Filipino American grocery chain with 21 stores in California, Nevada and Washington, including one at 8430 Elk Grove Florin Road in Elk Grove.
By the numbers
The data
Island Pacific stores by state, February 2026
Source: Wikipedia (Island Pacific Supermarket).
The story of Niño Jefferson Lim
Lim earned an accounting degree at the University of Southern California and chose to enter the supermarket business instead of becoming an accountant in New York. He opened the first Island Pacific in Panorama City, Los Angeles, in March 2000.
The chain had 19 stores in California and Nevada by August 2023 and 21 by February 2026, adding Los Angeles in 2024 and its first Washington store, in Federal Way, in 2025. Lim served as CEO until 2023; Maite Defensor became CEO in February 2024. “I am deeply thankful for the opportunity to have led such a remarkable team,” Lim said.
Milestones
- 2000First Island Pacific opens in Panorama City (March).
- 202319 stores; Granada Hills opens (August).
- 2024Maite Defensor named CEO (February); Los Angeles store opens.
- 2025First Washington store, Federal Way.
- 202621 stores (February).
Companies and ventures
Lessons for business builders
- A specialty grocer can grow by following its community from city to city.
- Plan for succession; a founder handing off to a new CEO is a sign of a durable company.
- Your training is a tool, not a cage: an accountant built a grocery chain.
Sources
- Island Pacific Supermarket (Wikipedia)
- Grocery Dive: Island Pacific CEO Maite Defensor (Feb. 6, 2024)
- Supermarket News: Island Pacific names new CEO (Feb. 5, 2024)
Photo: Island Pacific, West Covina, by RightCowLeftCoast, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Figures marked firm-reported come from the company; all others from the sources above, checked November 2026.
