Ahold Delhaize (OTCMKTS: ADRNY) the parent company of grocery chains like Stop & Shop, Hannaford, and Food Lion, experienced a significant cyberattack impacting operations across nearly 2,000 stores in the U.S.

With over 1,000 Food Lion stores affected, the attack led to delays in deliveries, product shortages, and limited payment processing for debit and gift cards, especially in pharmacy sections. Customers reported prolonged outages and unavailable e-commerce services, affecting Food Lion’s online ordering options and services

The company’s security teams are working with outside cybersecurity experts and law enforcement to investigate the incident and determine who is responsible. As a precaution, Ahold Delhaize has taken some systems offline, limiting access to e-commerce services and slowing in-store transactions to safeguard data and services.

Why It Matters: The attack highlights how vulnerable essential retail infrastructure is to cyber threats. Ahold Delhaize serves millions of customers each week across the U.S., and disruptions to supply chains and pharmacy services expose critical weaknesses in food and healthcare accessibility.

• Scope of Impact: The cybersecurity breach affected multiple Ahold Delhaize brands, including Stop & Shop, Hannaford, and Food Lion, across nearly 2,000 U.S. stores. Some brands experienced issues with product availability and payment processing, particularly at pharmacies.

• Operational Disruptions: Customers and employees reported issues such as delayed deliveries, inaccurate pricing on invoices, and ongoing IT disruptions, with some stores resorting to using personal hotspots to maintain operations. These disruptions have impacted customer access to both in-store and online services.

• Corporate Response and Investigation: Ahold Delhaize has launched a full-scale investigation with external cybersecurity experts and involved law enforcement. The company prioritized system security, taking some online services offline to contain the breach.

• Employee and Customer Concerns: Employees, particularly on social media, expressed concerns over communication blackouts imposed by some managers, while customers reported difficulties accessing pharmacy services and potential fraudulent card activity.

Go Deeper -> Ahold Delhaize Cybersecurity Incident Impacts Giant Food, Hannaford – SecurityWeek

Ahold Delhaize USA stores crippled by cybersecurity issues – YahooFinance