Photo: Gemma C on Unsplash.com

By Laura Durenberger-Grunow - Boreal Community Media - June 11, 2025

A cyber attack has affected one of the largest wholesale distributors of natural and organic foods, United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI). UNFI distributes food to major retailers across the country, including Cub Foods, Whole Foods, and smaller entities such as the Cook County Co-op. In a statement released on June 9, UNFI said, "We have identified unauthorized activity in our systems and have proactively taken some systems offline while we investigate. As soon as we discovered the activity, an investigation was initiated with the help of leading forensics experts and we have notified law enforcement. We are assessing the unauthorized activity and working to restore our systems to safely bring them back online."

On June 10, the Cook County Co-op sent an email to its members and shoppers informing them of the issue. It said, "While we don't know what this means in the long run, we do know that deliveries will be limited in the short term and we will not get all the products we’ve ordered." 

Additionally, the Co-op shared that they are working "diligently" with other food distributors, food cooperators at the National Co+op Grocers (purchasing liaisons), and local vendors. The Cook County Co-op also said that its staff would be able to help recommend alternatives for out-of-stock items. 

Beyond Cook County, customers are feeling the impacts at places like Cub Foods, which had to close several pharmacy locations due to not being able to process new or refill prescription orders.

A timeline as to how long the disruptions may impact consumers has not been provided by UNFI; however, the organization stated in a release that they are "We are working closely with [customers, suppliers, and associates] to minimize disruption as much as possible. The company is implementing workarounds for specific operations to continue servicing customers where possible and is focused on safely restoring its systems online.