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Albert Heijn discontinued the service of online grocery delivery and halted operations on their platforms as a result of a breach in cybersecurity.
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Physical stores continue to operate as usual, but prices on their systems still linger from last week.
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The parent company Ahold Delhaize has taken note of the cyber breach, but no information about the possible source is available.
The biggest supermarket chain in the Netherlands, Albert Heijn, has canceled its online grocery delivery business. This move came following a cybersecurity issue on the company. The disruption began on Sunday afternoon and continues to affect operations.
The incident has also impacted Etos, a drugstore chain, and Gall & Gall, a liquor store chain. These companies are all part of the parent group Ahold Delhaize. To safeguard its IT environment, the retailer has shut down some of its systems.
What Services the Breach Affected
The websites, apps, and customer service lines for all three chains remain unavailable. Albert Heijn’s logistics systems are also offline. As a result, customers cannot receive groceries they ordered online. The company has not said when these services will return.
The physical stores remain open for shoppers. However, the disruption has caused problems with pricing displays. Electronic shelf labels still show last week’s promotional prices. This means customers may see a lower price on the shelf than what the checkout system charges.
The personal bonus card and savings systems linked to the Mijn AH app are also not working. Also, it impacted the provision of the Mijn Bonus Box feature along with saving/redeeming Koopzegels and Air Miles. Albert Heijn has encouraged the clients to wait and save their receipts to later receive benefits of missed discounts.
Online orders placed before the outage face an uncertain future. The company has not confirmed whether it will fulfill or cancel pending deliveries. Customers with scheduled delivery slots have received no clear guidance. This leads to fragile situations for numerous households that have no alternate means to refill essential goods.
Albert Heijn operates more than 1,200 stores in the Netherlands, and thus controls around 35% of the grocery market in the country. Its online delivery service reaches most urban areas in the country. Any extended outage therefore affects a large share of Dutch households.
Details of Statement from the Company
Albert Heijn describes the event as an ‘IT incident’ in its public statements. Parent company Ahold Delhaize uses stronger language, calling it a ‘cybersecurity incident’ and a ‘security issue in its network.’ However, it didn’t mention whether any customer data was collected during the incident or its cause.
Albert Heijn reported that it took actions in patching and protecting its IT environment, including taking some systems offline temporarily. Also, the company has stated that it is evaluating the situation and working toward restoring operations. It stressed that protecting the data of its customers, employees, partners, remains its top priority.
Further, Albert Heijn expressed apologies to customers for the disturbance. It assured its customers that any further information will be disclosed when there is a clearer picture of the situation. It has not given a timeline for full recovery.
This is not the first cyber-related incident for Ahold Delhaize, in November 2024, the company suffered a ransomware attack in its US branch, which operated as Ahold Delhaize USA. That attack resulted in stopping business in some Stop & Shop and Hannaford pharmacy stores temporarily.
It also disrupted online ordering and delivery at several banners. The company later confirmed the incident caused an estimated $9 million hit to its fourth-quarter earnings. Whether the current Dutch incident follows a similar pattern remains unclear. Other supermarket cyber incidents have directly affected customer data, including the cyberattack on Intermarché Drive service, which exposed data of 287,605 customers.
Impact Beyond Albert Heijn
The incident has affected other parts of the operations of Ahold Delhaize. In Belgium, the Delhaize supermarket chain has also taken systems offline as a precaution. A Delhaize spokesperson said the impact for customers is relatively small, with stores open and checkout systems working. However, customer service is unavailable, and it remains unclear whether online deliveries will continue in the coming days.
In the United States, websites for Food Lion and Hannaford were also reported as unreachable. These chains are part of the same parent group. The website for Bol, a Dutch online retailer also owned by Ahold Delhaize, remained online.
The timing of the incident is notable. It occurred during a period of heightened cyber activity in the Netherlands. Earlier this month, the Dutch government disclosed a separate breach at a national logistics provider. That incident also disrupted supply chains for multiple retailers. Investigators have not linked the two events.
How Retailers Respond to Such Incidents
When a major store suffers a breach, it typically immediately rushes to suspend all compromised systems. This limits further penetration into its computer systems. Shutting down applications and websites is standard practice. This protects customers against possible threats to their accounts and payment information while investigators continue the work.
Retailers also report incidents to both the authorities and the police. In the EU, companies must report significant incidents under the NIS2 directive. The Dutch Data Protection Authority must also receive notice if personal data is involved. Ahold Delhaize neither confirmed nor denied whether it filed such notifications.
Shoppers should be cautious of phishing attacks that reference the incident. Hackers use such incidents to trick victims into disclosing sensitive information. Albert Heijn stated it does not intend to ask customers for sensitive data during this period.
