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United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), a major distributor of groceries to retailers across the country, said on June 9 that it had experienced a cyberattack and warned of ongoing disruptions to its business operations.
UNFI, the largest full-service grocery partner in North America, said in a June 9 regulatory filing that an unauthorized breach of its IT systems discovered several days earlier triggered an emergency response that took some systems offline, hampering the grocery distributor’s ability to fulfill and deliver customer orders.
“The incident has caused, and is expected to continue to cause, temporary disruptions to the Company’s business operations,” UNFI said, noting that it had implemented “temporary workarounds” to continue serving customers where possible.
The company said it had contacted law enforcement and was working with third-party cybersecurity specialists to remedy the problem and harden UNFI systems to prevent future breaches by cybercriminals.
“As we work through this issue, our customers, suppliers, and associates are our highest priority,” the company said in a statement. “We are working closely with them to minimize disruption.”
Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, the company is a major player in North America’s grocery supply chain, delivering food products and fresh goods to more than 30,000 stores and supermarkets across the United States and Canada. UNFI is also the primary distributor for Whole Foods, the Amazon-owned grocery chain.
A company spokesperson told The Epoch Times that there are no new updates beyond the press release and regulatory filing on efforts to restore operations to full capacity, noting that the investigation to understand the source of the breach is ongoing.
While no information is yet available on the identity of the individuals or groups involved in the UNFI breach, it comes amid warnings from the Trump administration that cyberthreats from foreign actors are on the rise and pose a major risk, including to critical infrastructure.
The intelligence community’s latest threat assessment warns that a range of cyberactors is targeting U.S. media, telecommunications networks, and critical infrastructure such as water utilities, which have become a more frequent target of attack.
Describing the Chinese Communist Party as the “most active and persistent cyber threat to U.S. government, private-sector, and critical infrastructure networks,” the assessment warns that in the event of a potential military confrontation with the United States—particularly over Taiwan—the Chinese regime could launch cyberattacks on U.S. military and civilian networks aimed at disrupting command operations, sowing public confusion, and delaying the deployment of U.S. forces.
The UNFI breach comes as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to defend U.S. networks from foreign cyberthreats. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on June 6 aimed at overhauling cybersecurity policy by stripping out “problematic and distracting” elements of earlier directives from the Biden and Obama administrations, while refocusing federal efforts on core technical protections and national resilience.
The order directs agencies to adopt secure software development practices, improve defenses against hijacking of network interconnections, and accelerate readiness for advanced cryptography—seen as critical for securing data against next-generation cyberattacks. It also mandates stronger encryption protocols and cybersecurity standards to ensure basic consumer protections in home devices.
Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
