UNFI Suffers Cyberattack, Forced to Shut Down Systems
United Natural Foods Inc., (UNFI), North America's largest publicly traded wholesale distributor, revealed that a cyberattack discovered on Thursday, June 5, forced the company to take some systems offline, which affected customer orders.
The Providence, R.I.-based company operates 53 distribution centers and delivers health and specialty food to more than 30,000 locations across the United States and Canada. For its second quarter, UNFI reported a net sales increase of 4.9% to $8.2 billion, while adjusted EBITDA rose 13.3% to $145 million and adjusted EPS increased to 22 cents.
While UNFI has not yet revealed the nature of the cyberattack or whether the attackers stole any data from the company's network, it did issue the following statement: “We have identified unauthorized activity in our systems and have proactively taken some systems offline while we investigate. As soon as we discovered the activity, an investigation was initiated with the help of leading forensics experts, and we have notified law enforcement. We are assessing the unauthorized activity and working to restore our systems to safely bring them back online. As we work through this issue, our customers, suppliers, and associates are our highest priority. We are working closely with them to minimize disruption as much as possible.”
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As reported by Bleeping Computer, since Thursday there have been widespread reports on social media that the company's systems were down and employees were having their shifts canceled.
Several cybersecurity experts weighed in on the situation.
"Cyberattacks like the one UNFI has been hit with can cause delays in deliveries, product shortages, and even store closings and temporary layoffs, due to organizations' reliance on computer systems,” said Chris Hauk, consumer privacy champion at Spring Hill, Tenn.-based Pixel Privacy. “While we don't know exactly what type of attack has been launched against UNFI or how it was launched, it does emphasize how companies need to ensure that their internal systems, as well as those of their suppliers and partners, are kept up to date to plug security holes."
"Not only do attacks such as these really put the pressure on the victim, but the organizations that rely on the products are also put in a spot as well,” said Erich Kron, security awareness advocate at Clearwater, Fla.-based KnowBe4. “If the wholesaler can't get items to the retailer, the retailer suffers greatly as well and might look for other options to make future purchases, costing the wholesaler customers and their reputation."
Jeff Wichman, director of incident at Hoboken, N.J.-based Semperis, said: “It’s clear the cyberattack on United Natural Foods isn’t an isolated incident, but rather part of a growing trend targeting the retail sector. High-profile hits have made headlines over the past year plus, including those on Sam’s Club, Ahold Delhaize, Victoria’s Secret, Adidas and others.
“It’s another reminder for the retail and supply chain sectors that cyberthreats are escalating, and organizations can’t afford to get caught unprepared,” he continued.
“As we’ve seen before, the real test isn’t just in preventing the breach, but in how quickly and effectively you recover,” added Wichman. “Companies need to adopt an ‘assume breach’ mindset, understanding their most critical systems, especially active directory, and having real-time visibility into changes to privileged accounts. Resilience isn’t optional; it’s the only way to keep business operations intact when attackers strike.”
During Progressive Grocer’s GroceryTech event this week in Dallas, Save A Lot security expert Nathen Fritzsche will share the stage with an FBI expert during the “Facing Down Threats: Tech Partnerships that Protect Key Infrastructure” session, detailing how retail and government agencies can work together to reduce threats to operations.
One of the largest publicly traded wholesale distributors of health and specialty food in North America, UNFI is No. 20 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2025 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
