United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) disclosed that it had detected unauthorized activity on its IT systems, prompting the company to initiate its incident response plan and take systems offline.
The disruption has impacted its ability to fulfill and distribute customer orders and is expected to continue affecting operations.
The incident was reported in an SEC Form 8-K filed today, with the company stating that the attack caused a temporary but ongoing disruption to its business processes. While the nature and extent of the breach remain under investigation, UNFI has brought in third-party cybersecurity experts and informed law enforcement authorities as part of its response effort.
Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, United Natural Foods is a major distributor of natural, organic, and specialty foods across North America. The company services supermarkets, natural food stores, and foodservice operators and is a key supplier for large retail chains. It plays a critical logistical role in food distribution, which makes any operational disruption potentially significant for its partners.
According to the filing, the company’s containment strategy included taking systems offline as a precautionary measure. This proactive move limited immediate damage but temporarily disabled parts of UNFI’s logistics and fulfillment infrastructure. The company has implemented business continuity workarounds to maintain partial operations and continue serving customers “where possible.”
As of the latest update, the scope and impact of the breach are still being assessed. The 8-K filing emphasizes that the investigation is in its early stages, and there is no detailed information yet regarding the threat actor, method of intrusion, or whether sensitive data was exfiltrated. UNFI also noted that restoring affected systems is underway but provided no timeline for full recovery.
The disclosure comes with the acknowledgment of the potential for regulatory scrutiny and financial consequences stemming from the breach.
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