Cyberattack on United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) disrupts deliveries, causing Whole Foods shortages nationwide after systems were taken offline on June 5.

United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) is a Providence, Rhode Island–based natural and organic food company. The largest publicly traded wholesale distributor of health and specialty food in the United States and Canada, it is Whole Foods Market‘s main supplier, with their traffic making up over a third of its revenue in 2018.

On June 5, United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) suffered a cyberattack that disrupted its systems and caused product shortages at Whole Foods stores nationwide.

“The company said the incident temporarily hurt its “ability to fulfill and distribute customer orders.” It added that the incident “is expected to continue to cause temporary disruptions” to its operations.” reports Reuters.

United Natural didn’t disclose details about the attack, but similar disruptions in the past have often been tied to ransomware attacks.

“A corporate Whole Foods spokesperson apologized for the inconvenience and said the company is working to restock shelves quickly, but declined to answer specific questions.” reported NBC News. “Two Whole Foods employees, who were not authorized by the company to speak with the press about the incident, told NBC News that the shortages were significant.”

“It’s affecting operations in a very, very significant way,” an employee at a Sacramento Whole Foods said. “Shelves don’t even have products in some places. The shipments we receive are not what we need, or we did need it but it’s too much of one product because UNFI can’t communicate with stores to get proper orders.”

A Whole Foods employee in North Carolina reported bread and supply shortages due to the UNFI cyberattack. UNFI has started restoring systems, but gave no clear recovery timeline. Experts warn that cyberattacks can disrupt complex food supply chains, delaying deliveries to customers.

The impact of the UNFI cyberattack has extended beyond Whole Foods, affecting smaller retailers as well. The Community Food Co-Op in Bellingham, Washington, informed customers that due to UNFI being its main supplier, some shelves may look bare.

“As we wait for UNFI to get their systems back online, you’ll see sparsely stocked shelves in some of our aisles. To help ensure that everyone in our community has access to essential items, we’re asking customers to limit their purchases to no more than two of any single item.” wrote the company on Facebook.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, United Natural Foods)

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