Ontario, Calif. — Heritage Grocers Group, the largest Hispanic and ethnic food retailer in the country, has promoted Matthew Holt to the position of chief financial officer (CFO). He recently previously was chief accounting officer for Heritage Grocers Group. The company also has appointed Kim Cates to the position of vice president of center store for Heritage Grocers Group.
Reporting directly to Suzy Monford, chairman and CEO for Heritage Grocers Group, Holt will oversee the financial and accounting initiatives for all Heritage banner companies which include Cardenas Markets, Tony’s Fresh Market and El Rancho Supermercado.
Holt succeeds Darren Karst, who assumed the role of CFO in April 2023 and retired on Feb. 14, 2025.
“Matt brings extensive financial experience and leadership, a deep understanding of, and passion for our business and a proven track record of leading key financial functions across our portfolios to his new role,” says Monford. “With Matt at the helm of Heritage’s finance team, I am confident that we remain poised for continued success.”
Before joining the Cardenas Markets banner in 2019, Holt served as a finance executive with over 20 years of progressive experience at Kroger corporate and division offices, including numerous roles in finance, operations and chief financial officer and controller for two supermarket divisions.
Cates will oversee center store merchandising initiatives for Heritage Grocers Group and will report directly to Eric Stover, chief merchandising officer.
“Kim brings extensive wholesale and grocery industry experience to her new role,” says Stover. “She will play a vital role in advancing the company’s center store transformation by leveraging key insights to drive enhanced category planning, promotional effectiveness and customer-centric innovation.”
Her extensive food industry career includes 23 years with H-E-B where she steadily progressed through a range of store operations roles including director of food service and general manager of H-E-B Central Market. She spent several years at Daymon where she developed private brands across multiple center store and fresh categories for H-E-B and Southeastern Grocers. Before joining Heritage Grocers Group, Cates served as director of center store sales at Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) in Kansas City, Kan.
Heritage Grocers Group (HGG) is the largest Hispanic and ethnic food retailer in the country that offers an extensive assortment of both traditional and specialty grocery items to the communities it serves. Headquartered in Ontario, Calif., Heritage Grocers Group operates in six states: California, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Kansas and Illinois, with a total of 58 stores under the Cardenas Markets banner, 29 stores under the El Rancho Supermercado banner, 21 stores under the Tony’s Fresh Market banner, and 7 stores under the Los Altos Ranch Market banner.
SOURCE: Heritage Grocers Group (HGG)