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Ahold Delhaize Cyber Incident Disrupts Online Services at Five Major US Grocery Chains
A cybersecurity incident at Ahold Delhaize has forced the grocery giant to take systems offline, disrupting websites, apps, and online ordering at Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Hannaford, Giant Food, and The Giant Company for at least three days. Stores remain open, but the company has not said when all services will be restored or whether customer data is at risk.
A cybersecurity incident at Ahold Delhaize has disrupted online services at five major U.S. supermarket chains, forcing the grocery giant to take parts of its network offline while security teams investigate. The affected chains are Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Hannaford, Giant Food, and The Giant Company.
The Netherlands-based company confirmed the issue on Oct. 12, saying its teams were taking steps to assess and mitigate the problem. In a statement, Ahold Delhaize said it had taken some systems offline to help protect them. The company operates more than 9,400 stores worldwide and serves roughly 60 million customers each week, so the disruption has reached far beyond a single store or region.
Websites and mobile apps for all five U.S. chains remained unavailable on the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 14, according to Grocery Dive, marking at least a third consecutive day of online disruptions. Customers have reported problems accessing online ordering, grocery pickup and delivery, digital coupons, and some app-based loyalty features.
Physical stores have stayed open and continue to serve customers, and notices from the affected chains indicated that pharmacies are operating during normal business hours. But the online outages have created significant inconvenience, especially for shoppers who rely on delivery because of mobility challenges or limited transportation. As of Oct. 14, Food Lion, Giant Food, and The Giant Company were directing customers to third-party delivery services such as Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber Eats where available.
Ahold Delhaize said in an Oct. 13 update that it was beginning a controlled relaunch of certain systems, and a company spokesperson told CyberGuy that teams were working as quickly as possible to restore systems safely, including the websites. The spokesperson also confirmed that stores remain open and apologized for the disruption. However, as of Oct. 14, the company had not announced a firm timetable for restoring all affected services.
The company has not publicly identified who caused the problem or explained how its network was compromised. It has also not confirmed whether ransomware played a role. Those unanswered questions include how the incident began and when full service will return.
For customers, the disruption raises a familiar concern: whether personal information could be at risk again. Ahold Delhaize suffered a major data breach in 2024 that exposed personal information belonging to more than 2.2 million people. The company has not said whether the latest incident involves customer data.
Shoppers whose online grocery orders were never fulfilled are expected to receive refunds, according to the affected chains. Customers should check their credit card or bank statements to confirm that refunds arrive, keep original order confirmations and related emails, and contact customer service through a verified channel if a refund does not appear within the retailer's stated processing period.
For those whose grocery apps remain unavailable, shopping inside a physical store may be the most dependable option. Calling ahead is advisable for customers who need a specific service or want to confirm that a prescription is ready.
Ahold Delhaize said it is working with external cybersecurity experts and appropriate authorities to investigate the incident. The company has not provided a timeline for when all systems will be fully restored.
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