US grocery wholesaler and retailer United Natural Foods (UNFI) has taken “certain systems” offline following a cyberattack.
In a stock-exchange filing, UNFI said it had detected “unauthorised activity” on “certain” IT systems on 5 June.
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The company said it “promptly” responded by implementing containment measures, including “proactively taking certain systems offline”, which has temporarily affected its ability to fulfil customer orders.
The incident has led to “temporary disruptions” in UNFI’s business operations, it added.
UNFI is among the largest wholesale distributors of food products throughout North America.
It distributes branded and own-label products to more than 30,000 grocery stores, including Amazon-backed Whole Foods Market, as well as independent retailers.
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By GlobalDataA Whole Foods spokesperson told Just Food: “We are working to restock our shelves as quickly as possible and apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused for customers.”
UNFI’s food brands include Wild Harvest, Culinary Circle, and Essential Everyday, covering natural, organic, and specialty food products.
The group runs 76 retail stores under the Cub Foods and Shoppers chains but the wholesale business accounts for more than 95% of its annual revenue.
The investigation into the impact and scope of the incident is still in its “early stages”, UNFI added.
For the fiscal year ending 2 August, UNFI reported net sales of $30.98bn, a 2.3% increase from fiscal 2023.
The 2024 fiscal year included 53 weeks, compared to 52 weeks in the prior year.
Despite the sales growth, operating income fell sharply to $8m, a 93.3% decrease from the previous year.
Announcing the results in October, UNFI attributed the decline primarily to increased operating expenses, restructuring, acquisition and integration-related costs, as well as losses on asset sales and charges.
It booked a $112m net loss in fiscal 2024, compared with a $24m profit a year earlier.
In January, the group set out plans to “realign” its commercial wholesale organisation into two “product-centred” divisions with “focused” sales teams.
In March, UNFI reported half-year net sales of $16.1bn, up from $15.33bn in the corresponding period the year previous.
It booked operating income of $32m – versus break-even in the first half of fiscal 2024/25 – and a net loss of $24m. UNFI had recorded a net loss of $54m in the first half of its previous financial year.
The company is set to report its third-quarter results today.
