Cyberattack on United Natural Foods disrupts grocery distribution

United Natural Foods, Inc., the Rhode Island based wholesale distributor that supplies Whole Foods Market and thousands of independent grocers, detected unauthorized activity on parts of its information technology network on June 5, 2025. The company took affected systems offline, activated its incident response plan and engaged outside forensic experts.

UNFI disclosed the intrusion publicly on June 9 and notified law enforcement. Grocery Dive reported that the distributor did not identify which services were affected, saying only that it was assessing the unauthorized activity and working to restore systems safely.

The shutdown crippled electronic ordering and invoicing across a network serving roughly 30,000 retail locations in the United States and Canada, including Whole Foods Market and UNFI's own Cub Foods and Shoppers banners. Stores reported gaps on shelves and delayed deliveries while the distributor fell back on manual workarounds for close to two weeks.

UNFI later told investors the incident would reduce fiscal 2025 net sales by roughly $350 million to $400 million, with an estimated $50 million to $60 million effect on net income, most of which it expected insurance to cover. The company did not confirm whether ransomware was involved, and no group publicly claimed the attack.