United Natural Foods Projects (UNFI) expects a $350–$400M sales hit from a June cyberattack, with $50–$60M in net income impact.
United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI), the main distributor for Amazon’s Whole Foods, said the June 2025 cyberattack will slash its fiscal 2025 sales by $350 to $400 million.
United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) is a Providence, Rhode Island–based natural and organic food company. The largest publicly traded wholesale distributor of health and specialty food in the United States and Canada, it is Whole Foods Market‘s main supplier, with their traffic making up over a third of its revenue in 2018.
On June 5, United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) suffered a cyberattack that disrupted its systems and caused product shortages at Whole Foods stores nationwide.
“The company said the incident temporarily hurt its “ability to fulfill and distribute customer orders.” It added that the incident “is expected to continue to cause temporary disruptions” to its operations.” reports Reuters.
United Natural didn’t disclose details about the attack, but similar disruptions in the past have often been tied to ransomware attacks.
“A corporate Whole Foods spokesperson apologized for the inconvenience and said the company is working to restock shelves quickly, but declined to answer specific questions.” reported NBC News. “Two Whole Foods employees, who were not authorized by the company to speak with the press about the incident, told NBC News that the shortages were significant.”
“It’s affecting operations in a very, very significant way,” an employee at a Sacramento Whole Foods said. “Shelves don’t even have products in some places. The shipments we receive are not what we need, or we did need it but it’s too much of one product because UNFI can’t communicate with stores to get proper orders.”
A Whole Foods employee in North Carolina reported bread and supply shortages due to the UNFI cyberattack. UNFI has started restoring systems, but gave no clear recovery timeline. Experts warn that cyberattacks can disrupt complex food supply chains, delaying deliveries to customers.
The impact of the UNFI cyberattack has extended beyond Whole Foods, affecting smaller retailers as well. The Community Food Co-Op in Bellingham, Washington, informed customers that due to UNFI being its main supplier, some shelves may look bare.
This week, the company published an update revealing that insurance payouts will cover much of the financial damage.
“The Company is updating its full-year outlook to reflect its strong performance for the first three fiscal quarters of 2025 and the estimated costs and charges associated with the previously disclosed cyber incident.” reads the update. “The Company estimates that the cyber incident will impact fiscal 2025 net sales by approximately $350 to $400 million, net (loss) income by $50 to $60 million, which includes the estimated tax impact, and adjusted EBITDA by approximately $40 to $50 million.”
United Natural Foods expects insurance to cover the June 2025 cyberattack losses and does not anticipate major impacts beyond Q4 of fiscal 2025.
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Pierluigi Paganini
(SecurityAffairs – hacking, UNFI)
