United Natural Foods (UNFI), North America’s largest publicly traded wholesale distributor, recently had to shut down some of its systems after a cyberattack.
The Rhode Island-based company operates 53 distribution centers and supplies fresh and frozen products to more than 30,000 locations across the United States and Canada. Its customers include supermarket chains, e-commerce providers, natural product superstores, independent retailers, and food service businesses.
UNFI is a key distributor for Amazon's Whole Foods. In August 2024, the company reported annual revenues of $31 billion, works with over 11,000 suppliers, and employs more than 28,000 people. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a statement on its website, UNFI disclosed that a cyberattack discovered on June 5 forced it to take certain systems offline, which affected customer orders.
The company said it quickly activated its incident response plan and implemented containment steps, including proactively taking systems offline. This has temporarily disrupted its ability to fulfill and distribute customer orders. The incident is expected to continue causing short-term interruptions to its business operations.
Since discovering the breach, UNFI has informed law enforcement authorities and hired external cybersecurity experts to investigate. The company has also put in place workarounds to maintain customer service while restoring affected systems. UNFI is actively working to assess, mitigate, and resolve the issue with the help of third-party cybersecurity professionals. It is following its business continuity plans to continue serving customers where possible and aims to safely restore its systems as soon as possible.
The company’s announcement follows reports on social media that its systems were down and some employee shifts were canceled.
UNFI has not yet revealed details about the type of attack or if any data was stolen. No ransomware groups have claimed responsibility for the breach. The company plans to release its fiscal 2025 third-quarter financial results this Tuesday.
A UNFI spokesperson told BleepingComputer that the company is assessing the unauthorized activity and working on restoring systems, emphasizing that customers, suppliers, and employees remain the top priority.
UNFI is the latest food industry company to face a cyberattack in recent years. For example, in March, Walmart-owned Sam’s Club investigated a possible Clop ransomware breach. In 2021, food giant JBS Foods, the world’s largest beef producer, paid an $11 million ransom after a REvil ransomware attack forced production shutdowns at multiple locations worldwide.
In recent months, cyberattacks linked to the Scattered Spider threat group and the DragonForce ransomware operation have targeted UK retailers including Harrods, Co-op, and Marks & Spencer. These groups have recently shifted their focus to companies in the United States.
Found this article interesting? Follow us on X(Twitter) ,Threads and FaceBook to read more exclusive content we post.
