One of the largest food distributors in the U.S. reported a cyberattack to regulators on Monday, explaining that the incident has disrupted its operations and ability to fulfil customer orders.
United Natural Foods released a public statement and filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) saying the cyberattack began on June 5.
The statement said the Rhode Island-based company identified unauthorized activity on its systems on Thursday, prompting officials to take systems offline. The action “has temporarily impacted the Company’s ability to fulfill and distribute customer orders.”
“The incident has caused, and is expected to continue to cause, temporary disruptions to the Company’s business operations,” United Natural Foods said. “The Company has implemented workarounds for certain operations in order to continue servicing its customers where possible. The Company is continuing to work to restore its systems to safely bring them back online.”
Law enforcement has been notified and the company said it has hired a cybersecurity firm to remediate the incident. The investigation into the attack “remains ongoing and is in its early stages.”
The press statement published on Monday said the company is working closely with “customers, suppliers, and associates” to minimize the disruption. The company did not respond to requests for comment.
United Natural Foods is the main supplier for Whole Foods and is considered the largest health and specialty food distributor in the United States and Canada. The company reported $8.2 billion in net sales last quarter.
