Whole Foods and other U.S. grocers are only being partially stocked as a major food distributor continues to grapple with a recent cyber attack, a recent earnings call revealed.
North American wholesale distributor United Natural Foods confirmed this week that it was forced to take some of its systems offline after noticing unauthorized activity. At a financial quarter meeting Tuesday, June 10, CEO Sandy Douglas said the wholesale distributor is only supplying customers on a “limited basis” amid the crisis.
“We are partnering with customers across the country and across our formats in various short term mode to serve their needs as best as we possibly can,” Douglas told investors. “Any way that we can help them meet their needs, we’re doing.”
The company is working with the FBI and other authorities to determine how to resume services and why the technology defenses failed, according to Douglas.
“We just got penetrated, so we will be continuing to look at every aspect of our defense, every aspect of how our tools are working, and what may be necessary to bolster it going forward, because it’s clearly an area that requires a tremendous amount of focus from companies today,” he said.
Users on social media have reported shelves being empty at some Whole Foods locations with signs apologizing for the inconvenience and promising to resupply soon.
A Whole Foods spokesperson told USA TODAY on Monday, June 9 that the supermarket chain is working to restock its shelves as fast as possible and said it apologizes for any inconveniences.
CEO says it informed investors as soon as it could
When asked why the company hesitated to inform investors about the cyberattack and system shutdown, Douglas denied there being a delay.
Douglas clarified company officials noticed unauthorized activity in its systems on June 5 and investigated whether it was isolated. By the afternoon of June 6, the company made the decision to lock its systems down. On June 9, it filed a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to inform shareholders before the market opened.
“So there is no way that we could have communicated any faster, and there was no trading,” Douglas added.
He also he was unable to confirm whether the shutdown has required customers to break contracts, adding “I wouldn’t be able to factually answer that question, even if I was inclined to disclose it.”
“The focus is making sure we serve the customers and have them be able to do whatever they need to do the best they can in this environment,” he said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Whole Foods’ distributor is supplying on a ‘limited basis’
