Ongoing cyberattack at US grocery distributor big UNFI affecting buyer orders
U.S. grocery distribution big United Pure Meals (UNFI) mentioned on Tuesday it’s working to revive its capabilities following a cyberattack final week that continues to disrupt the grocery provide chain.
UNFI mentioned as a part of its third quarter earnings report that it was “diligently managing by way of the cyber incident” it confirmed on Monday. The corporate is “serving to our clients with short-term options wherever potential,” mentioned UNFI chief government Sandy Douglas in ready remarks.
On the corporate’s post-results convention name, Douglas mentioned UNFI is “persevering with to securely convey our methods again on-line and restore broad-based customer support as quickly as potential.”
The corporate, which is the first distributor for Amazon-owned Complete Meals, and provides over 250,000 grocery retailer merchandise together with frozen items, disclosed on Monday that it had recognized unauthorized entry to its IT methods. Douglas mentioned on its name Tuesday that the corporate has since shut down its whole community.
The corporate has not described the character of the cyberattack, but it surely mentioned the intrusion was inflicting ongoing disruptions to its operations, together with its capacity to meet and distribute buyer orders.
Douglas advised buyers on the decision that the corporate was delivery to clients “on a restricted foundation.”
One buyer of UNFI advised TechCrunch that they’re trialing a brand new product in Complete Meals shops this week, however mentioned a lot of their provide had not been delivered. The shopper mentioned they’ve heard nothing from both UNFI or Complete Meals concerning the disruption.
TechCrunch has heard anecdotal experiences of diminished or empty cabinets at some shops affected by the disruption at UNFI, however it isn’t instantly clear if that is as a result of cyberattack or different provide chain points. A lot of the downstream real-world influence on grocery shops and their clients will not be seen till later this week.
Complete Meals has not returned a request for remark from TechCrunch. Reuters cited a Complete Meals spokesperson as saying that the retail big was “working to restock our cabinets as rapidly as potential” and referred extra questions again to UNFI.
It’s not clear how a lot UNFI has spent on cybersecurity, nor who’s in the end answerable for cybersecurity on the firm.
A spokesperson for UNFI didn’t reply to a request for remark when contacted by TechCrunch on Tuesday.
A lot of the UNFI’s external-facing methods are offline, together with internet methods utilized by suppliers and clients, in addition to the corporate’s VPN merchandise, based on checks by TechCrunch.
UNFI reported $8.1 billion in internet gross sales within the quarter ended Could 3, 2025. The corporate mentioned it was anticipating to report a loss on internet earnings and earnings per share for its 2025 outlook following the ending of a contract with a grocery retailer chain’s operations within the U.S. northeast, however that it isn’t adjusting its outlook right now as a result of “ongoing evaluation” of the cyberattack.