Heritage Grocers Group Names President and COO
Specialty ethnic retailer Heritage Grocers Group (HGG) has promoted Eric Stover to president of Heritage Grocers Group and Prabash Coswatte to COO of Heritage Grocers Group, both reporting to HGG CEO Doug Sanders.
“The promotions of Eric and Prabash further aligns and unifies the organizational structure of Heritage Grocers Group,” noted Sanders. “They are exceptional leaders whose extensive experience and expertise will be instrumental in executing our growth strategy, as well as deepening the HGG connection to communities and serving the local customer.”
Stover’s most recent role was CEO of Cardenas Markets. In his new position, he will directly oversee category management, supply chain, pricing, schematics, marketing, loyalty program efforts, e-commerce and B2B/wholesale business for all HGG banners. An alumnus of the University of Texas at Arlington, where he studied business administration and psychology, Stover serves on the board of directors for the Western Association of Food Chains (WAFC) and the Cardenas Markets Foundation, and sits on the Food Industry Round Table for Olive Crest. Before joining Cardenas in 2020 as chief merchandising officer, Stover held leadership roles in merchandising and operations for such food retailers as Wild Oats, Henry’s Farmers Market and Sprouts Farmers Market, and also worked in senior positions at United Natural Foods (UNFI) and KeHE Distributors.
Coswatte was most recently chief administrative officer at HGG. In his latest position, he will oversee store operations, information technology, continuous improvement, data integrity, loss prevention, internal audits, construction and facilities maintenance. Having attended West Virginia University and earned an MBA from the University of Phoenix, Coswatte serves on the board of directors for the Cardenas Markets Foundation. He joined Cardenas as CIO in 2019. Prior to that, he was CIO for Vallarta Supermarkets, VP - Enterprise Program Management for 99 Cents Only Stores, senior project manager for Cambridge Associates LLC, and senior consultant for Deloitte Consulting.
Based in Ontario, Calif., HGG operates in six states – California, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Kansas and Illinois – with a total of 57 stores under the Cardenas Markets banner, 28 stores under the El Rancho Supermercado banner, 21 stores under the Tony’s Fresh Market banner and seven stores under the Los Altos Ranch Market banner.
