Dive Brief:
- Heritage Grocers Group announced Thursday that Suzy Monford has stepped down as board chair and CEO to “pursue other opportunities.” Monford joined the company as chief executive at the end of last year.
- The grocery company, which oversees several Hispanic chains, named David Hirz, who most recently served as president and CEO of Smart & Final, as chair of the company board.
- The company also created an Office of the CEO to guide the company as it searches for a replacement. The group is comprised of senior leaders, including its COO and CFO as well as the CEO of Tony’s Fresh Market.
Dive Insight:
Monford served a short stint as chief executive at Heritage Grocers Group, which oversees more than 100 stores across the Cardenas Markets, El Rancho Supermercado, Tony’s Fresh Market and Los Altos Ranch Market banners.
During her roughly nine months at the helm, Heritage made numerous executive appointments and strategic adjustments to help the company grow and evolve. This included creating a chief transformation officer role to oversee a new department focused on improving e-commerce, retail media, pricing and other areas. Heritage also named a new CFO earlier this year and promoted veterans from H-E-B and Kroger to leadership positions in merchandising and marketing, respectively.
Heritage Grocers also took strides during Monford’s tenure to refine its technology, including automating parts of its retail planning and supply chain management systems.
Monford previously served as CEO of PCC Community Markets and Andronico’s Community Markets and has held executive roles with Kroger, H-E-B and Australia’s Woolworths Group, according to her LinkedIn profile. She declined to comment when asked about her future plans.
As it searches for a new leader, Heritage will look to members of its Office of the CEO group to steer the company. Those members are:
- Prabash Coswatte, chief operating officer at Heritage Grocers
- Leticia Espinoza, chief administrative officer and general counsel at Heritage Grocers
- Matthew Holt, CFO at Heritage Grocers
- Frank Ingraffia, chief transformation officer at Heritage Grocers and CEO at Tony’s Fresh Market.
Hirz, meanwhile, brings more than four decades of experience leading grocery companies, including more than 12 years as president and CEO of Smart & Final, according to his LinkedIn profile. Hirz, who has been on Heritage’s board for the past year, has also served as president of Food 4 Less and Ralphs. He will provide oversight and offer guidance to the Office of the CEO, according to Thursday’s announcement.
“Throughout my time on Heritage’s Board, I have seen firsthand the strength of Heritage’s value proposition and customer loyalty across our banners,” Hirz said in a statement. “We have a unique ability to serve communities with authenticity – and we’re committed to carrying that forward.
