Security Breach at Huge Natural Food Distributor Halts Shipments
By Larry Barnett
UNFI, United Natural Foods, Inc., the country’s largest distributor of natural food products to supermarkets and food stores, has suspended all shipments since June 5, 2025, due to what they term “a security breach.”
While the precise nature of the “breach” has not been disclosed, it has all the earmarks of a so-called Ransomware attack. Such cyber attacks have become more common, and generally involve locking a business out it its own computer and data network unless a payment is made to the attackers.
UNFI supplies groceries and other products to the likes of Whole Foods and roughly 30,000 other retailers. Retailers using the UNFI system have been unable to submit their orders, and unless they have inventories to carry them over, will suffer supply shortages. The public may find itself facing depleted shelves and certain products unavailable until UNFI can get its system back up and running.
UNFI issued 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.”
After ten days, the UNFI system is still not up and running, no orders can be placed electronically, and shipments to stores are being delayed.
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