Cyberattack at Albert Heijn Leaves Dutch Supermarket Shelves Empty

Albert Heijn, the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands, has been struggling since Sunday afternoon, October 11, 2026, with a cybersecurity incident that has knocked out its website, mobile app, customer service and large parts of its logistics. Parent company Ahold Delhaize took several systems offline as a precaution, and the impact quickly moved from the digital world to the physical supply chain, with distribution centres halted and fresh produce disappearing from store shelves across the country.

The problems started on Sunday afternoon and were first described by Albert Heijn as an IT incident. On Monday, October 12, at 08:29 Amsterdam time, Ahold Delhaize published a statement from its headquarters in Zaandam confirming a security issue within its network and explaining that some systems had been taken offline to protect them. The group added that its stores remained open and serving customers. Albert Heijn later dropped the IT incident wording and started speaking of a cybersecurity incident, and the disclosure was flagged as inside information under European market rules. Ahold Delhaize shares fell 2.8% on Monday.

The outage hit far more than online shopping. Sister chains Etos (drugstores) and Gall & Gall (liquor stores) also lost their websites and apps, the Bonus loyalty card and personalised discounts stopped working, and electronic shelf labels kept displaying the previous week's prices. Staff in some stores reportedly had to put up paper notices and price stickers to inform shoppers. Albert Heijn asked customers to keep their receipts so that missed personal discounts can be compensated later. Online grocery orders were suspended, including orders already placed, and these were refunded. Online sales represent around 10% of Albert Heijn's turnover.

The most serious consequence for consumers has been on the supply side. Albert Heijn operates six distribution centres in the Netherlands, and on Monday CEO Margaret Versteden-van Duijn confirmed that work at several of them had come to a complete stop, without naming which ones. According to an email to suppliers reported by Dutch media, only the Zaandam centre was still receiving goods, in fixed time slots, although the company did not confirm this. Stores quickly struggled to replenish fruit, vegetables and dairy products. In one store in Lelystad, only three of the usual 20 pallets reportedly arrived, and empty produce shelves were also seen in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The chain warned that frozen goods, bread and long-life products would remain more widely available than fresh items, and that the situation would differ from one store to another.

The disruption is significant for Dutch food distribution because Albert Heijn holds roughly 38% of the national grocery market. Competitors Jumbo, Lidl, Picnic, ALDI and PLUS have all reported busier stores and a rise in online orders since Monday, and some of them are sending extra stock to their outlets to keep up with demand. Fresh products that could not be delivered to Albert Heijn stores have partly been redirected, with the Rotterdam Food Bank receiving a large donation of produce. Logistics partners have also felt the impact, with some truck drivers losing shifts during the shutdown.

The incident has not been limited to the Netherlands. In Belgium, Delhaize reported IT problems on Monday and temporarily suspended online orders, as did the Belgian Albert Heijn stores, which are supplied from the Tilburg distribution centre. Delhaize customers can order online again, but the service is not yet at full capacity and individual stores are being supplied on a case-by-case basis. In the United States, the websites and apps of all five Ahold Delhaize USA banners, Stop & Shop, Giant Food, The GIANT Company, Hannaford and Food Lion, went offline on Monday, and online ordering, pickup and home delivery were suspended. US stores, pharmacies and fuel stations stayed open, and Giant Food directed customers to third-party delivery platforms.

Ahold Delhaize has not officially called the event a cyberattack, but cybersecurity experts consulted by Dutch broadcasters consider it very likely that attackers breached the network. According to sources in the security sector, Albert Heijn detected suspicious incoming traffic and switched systems off as it arrived, which may have stopped the intruders from going deeper into the network. Several servers located in the United States, Poland, Moldova and Turkey were reportedly used in the attack, and the investigation suggests that servers belonging to the group's US division may also have been involved. The location of these servers does not necessarily reveal where the attackers are based. Albert Heijn has shared information about the attackers' infrastructure with other companies so they can strengthen their own defences.

On Tuesday, October 13, at 14:00 Amsterdam time, Ahold Delhaize said it had started a controlled restart of certain systems with the help of internal teams and external cybersecurity experts. The group stated that it had found no evidence so far that customer or employee data had been taken, while stressing that the investigation was still ongoing and that it would not share details that could compromise its response. The Dutch National Cyber Security Centre said it currently sees no reason to link the incident to other cyberattacks affecting the European food sector, including the attack that disabled refrigeration systems in hundreds of French supermarkets over the same weekend.

The restart has brought partial relief. Albert Heijn began restocking its stores on Tuesday, several distribution centres are operating again and extra deliveries have been scheduled. Electronic shelf labels are once again showing correct prices, although Bonus offers are not yet displayed, and Delhaize's customer service in Belgium is reachable again. However, as of Wednesday morning, October 14, the Albert Heijn website was still down, online ordering and home deliveries remained unavailable and customer service could not be reached. The chain has warned that some fresh product shelves may stay empty for a while and has urged customers to watch out for phishing messages exploiting the situation.

No date has been given for a full recovery. This is the second major cyber incident for Ahold Delhaize in less than two years, after a November 2024 attack on its US business disrupted e-commerce and pharmacy services and led to the theft of personal data belonging to more than 2.2 million people. The current outage highlights how dependent modern grocery supply chains have become on digital systems, from warehouse management and transport planning to pricing and loyalty programmes.