The primary supplier for Whole Foods has halted deliveries due to a cyberattack, sparking concerns about potential shortages in stores.
United Natural Foods, a major player in the natural and organic product distribution market valued at $31 billion, reported the incident to law enforcement. In a regulatory filing on Monday, they mentioned having “identified fraudulent activity within our system.”
Based in Rhode Island, UNFI became aware of the cyber issue last week and stated that they had “brought several systems offline during the investigation,” as outlined in their filing.
“We are assessing unauthorized activities and working toward restoring the system securely,” they added.
Over the weekend, the company informed retail partners about the suspension of deliveries on Monday, though it remains uncertain when the disruption will end, according to sources.
Steve Schwartz, the sales director for Morton Williams grocery stores in New York City, expressed optimism, saying, “We’re looking forward to seeing you in the food chain.”
Morton Williams relies on UNFI for various products, including frozen items and dairy, such as Stony Field Yogurt and San Pellegrino sparkling waters.
In response to the situation, Schwartz mentioned that they’ve reached out to other suppliers to source necessary items.
However, some businesses have already felt the strain.
A Reddit user from Scratch Bakery’s Diamond Store noted, “We can’t even send out flour, cake components, or brown butter cookies. We’re wondering if we will need to reach out to customers with special orders this week, especially with graduation events.”
Another bakery reported, “We’re missing ingredients for making cakes and tarts, leaving our cases empty until deliveries come in. Last night was busy for us, but now we have zero cake sales today.”
A post from someone claiming to be a UNFI employee mentioned, “We took down the system nationwide last Friday around 3:30 PM. We’ve been calling for updates every day, hoping for a resolution.”
Whole Foods has not yet commented on how the UNFI situation will impact their stores.
UNFI plans to announce its third-quarter results on June 10th, though its stock took a hit, dropping 8.5% on Monday to about $25.
As uncertainty looms, a Reddit user who claimed to work at UNFI observed, “It’s still unclear how long this will last before we return to normal. The branch VP said if we manage to get back on track, it would be a gradual process, so it might take a while.”
This incident reflects broader challenges, echoing a recent cyberattack that forced Victoria’s Secret to delay its revenue release after their website was darkened for several days last month.
