This team makes sure our everyday and seasonal ethnic products meet our quality product standards while remaining authentic.
Manager of Ethnic Business Development Miguel (Mike) Sibila and Local Customization Specialist for Ethnic David Pagan are always on the lookout for ways to bring international and ethnic products to our stores. They work with corporate purchasing teams to identify product needs and develop planograms for placing products throughout the store, including Asian, Caribbean, European, Haitian, Hispanic, Indian, Jamaican, kosher, Mexican and South American items. They consult with multiple departments on decisions about the ethnic products we provide, including researching suppliers and making sure items get to the right stores.
“We work to source items that are manufactured in a specific geographic area or heavily specialized to ensure the items meet our customers’ needs,” David said.
“All of our customers are important to us,” said Mike. “We’re driven to be inclusive.”
Of the categories they work on, Hispanic products continue to be one of the fastest growing. According to the U.S. Census, in most of the country, the Hispanic market is primarily focused on customers from Mexico and Central America. But Mike and David know our operating area is a little different. While we serve customers from those areas, our stores, especially in Florida, have more customers from the Caribbean and South America. That means products that work in other areas may not be the right fit in some of our stores.
And sometimes, they have to work quickly. In 2017, when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, a large number of the island’s residents moved to Florida. Our new customers were used to finding specific items in their grocery stores and local food markets, so Mike and David worked to see if those products met our standards and if so, placed them in the right stores.
“We looked for solutions so as these customers arrived, they could find the specialty items they were used to,” said David.
“We can’t carry everything,” said Mike, “so we try to make sure the best of the best is in our stores.”
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Manager of Ethnic Business Development Mike Sibila
In 2005, Mike joined Publix in his current role, bringing 35 years of grocery industry experience with him. In the past 15 years, he’s worked with our corporate purchasing and retail teams to successfully execute our Hispanic and ethnic product strategy.
“I work for the best food retailer in the industry! I feel blessed to be at Publix and work with a superb leadership team that truly cares about all of our customers and the communities we proudly serve.”
Local Customization Specialist for Ethnic David Pagan
David began working for Publix in 2014 in his current role. Prior to Publix, he spent 18 years working with Hispanic distributors and brokers. He uses his industry experience to help us increase our Hispanic and ethnic product selection — a category that has experienced incredible growth in the past 2 years.
“As a Hispanic individual, I take pride in my culture and enjoy working toward providing people like me with what they are looking for when they shop at Publix. I thank Publix for giving me the opportunity to honor our mission serving the international consumers in our communities.”
