Whole Foods sees shortages after United Natural Foods cyberattack

A cyberattack on a primary organic food distributor has led to empty shelves at Whole Foods stores across the country

A cyberattack on a primary organic food distributor has led to empty shelves at Whole Foods stores across the country.

The company, Rhode Island-based United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), is one of the country’s largest organic food distributors and a major partner with Whole Foods. It became aware of a cyberattack on June 5, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and took some of its systems offline, hampering its ability to distribute orders to customers.

A spokesperson for United Natural Foods declined to share specifics about the cyberattack, saying it was an ongoing operation. But it comes in the wake of a series of cyberattacks where a notorious cybercriminal gang has been targeting major retail customers with ransomware, rendering key systems inoperable as hackers demand payment.

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.

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.