NEW DELHI — Global food retail group Ahold Delhaize has taken several IT systems offline following a cyberattack that disrupted websites, mobile applications, and digital services across the United States and Europe. The multinational grocer, which runs a network of 9,551 stores, initiated precautionary shutdowns to contain the breach while keeping its physical supermarkets open to customers. Investigators have found no evidence indicating that sensitive information belonging to consumers, workers, or commercial partners was stolen during the intrusion, as technical teams continue restoration efforts across international operating units.
The operational disruption affected multiple banners within the group’s retail portfolio, notably in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United States. Dutch subsidiaries Albert Heijn, Etos, and Gall & Gall experienced outages across consumer portals and customer support channels, while Delhaize faced platform interruptions in Belgium. In the United States, staff at the Stop & Shop supermarket chain were left unable to consult their work schedules or retrieve wage slips through internal portals.
Phased Recovery Underway Across European and US Divisions
In an operational update released on October 19, the grocery giant reported that most digital storefronts and mobile applications in its Central and Southeastern European operations had returned online. Albert Heijn’s main portal and shopping software resumed operations in the Netherlands, with home delivery logistics scheduled to restart on October 23. E-commerce portals for Dutch health and beauty chain Etos and beverage retailer Gall & Gall were also brought back into service.
Digital sales platforms run by Delhaize in Belgium have returned to complete functionality, but online shopping infrastructure across the group’s American retail banners will require several more days to normalize fully. Corporate leadership has declined to reveal whether attackers encrypted server infrastructure or gained access to broader internal enterprise environments, stating that sharing sensitive operational information could compromise cybersecurity defenses and containment protocols.
Authorities Alerted Following Escalation to Dutch Law Enforcement
Ahold Delhaize alerted the Dutch National Cyber Security Centre within 24 hours of uncovering the anomalous activity and continues to coordinate with regulatory authorities. The company has also lodged a formal criminal complaint with law enforcement investigators in the Netherlands to facilitate an official inquiry into the perpetrators.
Frans Muller, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ahold Delhaize, issued an apology to customers for the disruption, attributing the widespread system outages to malicious actions by outside actors. The company has not yet provided technical details regarding the specific attack vectors employed, the network entry point, or the identity of the extortion gang or hacking group responsible for the breach.
Incident Marks Second Major Security Breach Since 2024
The disruption represents the second substantial cybersecurity crisis to hit the food retail conglomerate in recent years, following a November 2024 intrusion into its American operations. That incident resulted in the theft of personal, financial, and medical records belonging to more than 2.2 million individuals, an attack later claimed by the INC Ransom cybercrime organization.
Company officials stated that no connection has been identified between the latest operational disruption and the 2024 data breach. With a workforce exceeding 384,000 employees serving roughly 77 million shoppers each week across Europe, the United States, and Indonesia, the full financial and operational consequences of the incident will become clear only after all remaining systems are recovered and forensic evaluations conclude.
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