What happened
On the weekend of October 11-12, 2026, Ahold Delhaize detected suspicious activity inside its IT infrastructure and, as a precaution, took websites and mobile apps offline across its US and European retail brands. In an update posted to its newsroom, the Netherlands-based company said its investigation confirmed the disruption resulted from "malicious actions of others." Ahold Delhaize notified the Dutch National Cyber Security Centre within 24 hours and filed a police report with Dutch authorities.
Physical supermarkets remained open and continued normal operations throughout the incident. What went dark were digital services: company websites, mobile apps, online ordering, home-delivery scheduling, digital coupons and loyalty-program features.
Which US stores were affected
- Food Lion — website and app offline for nine days, restored October 20
- Hannaford — website and e-commerce still offline as of October 19, according to the Portland Press Herald
- Stop & Shop — online ordering and digital coupons disrupted
- Giant Food and The Giant Company — websites and apps taken down
Ahold Delhaize's European brands — Albert Heijn and Etos in the Netherlands, Delhaize and Gall & Gall in Belgium, bol.com, and operations in Central and Southeastern Europe — faced similar outages. In its October 19 update, the company said European sites for Etos, Gall & Gall and its Belgian e-commerce operations, along with most Central/Southeastern Europe sites, had already been restored, and that Albert Heijn home deliveries were set to resume October 23.
Is this linked to the French supermarket refrigeration hack?
The Ahold Delhaize outage began the same weekend as a separate, unrelated-sounding incident in France: on October 11, hackers compromised internet-connected refrigeration controllers at roughly 700 French supermarkets. The attackers forced the units into continuous defrost cycles, pushing temperatures up to 122°F (50°C), causing widespread food spoilage and, in some cases, fires, according to the Portland Press Herald and Supermarket News.
A Hannaford spokesperson told the Portland Press Herald the company had "no reason to believe the Ahold Delhaize matter is related to the issue impacting some French retailers." The two incidents hit different kinds of systems — refrigeration hardware in France versus corporate IT and e-commerce platforms at Ahold Delhaize — and no shared cause has been publicly confirmed by either side.
What's known — and what isn't — about data
In updates issued October 14 and October 19, Ahold Delhaize said it had "no evidence at this moment that suggests that any sensitive customer, associate or partner data was taken." The company said its investigation, conducted with outside cybersecurity experts, was continuing. It has not disclosed how the intruders gained access or how long they were inside its systems before detection.
Customers whose online or app orders were affected during the outage were told they would receive refunds, according to Ahold Delhaize and several of its US banners.
Timeline of the Ahold Delhaize incident| Date | Event |
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| Oct 11 | Hackers hit refrigeration-control systems at roughly 700 French supermarket stores, causing spoilage and some fires |
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| Oct 11-12 | Ahold Delhaize detects suspicious IT activity and takes US and European brand websites/apps offline as a precaution |
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| Oct 14 | Company reports no evidence of customer, employee or partner data theft |
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| Oct 19 | European sites largely restored; US banners' e-commerce still being brought back online |
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| Oct 20 | Food Lion's website and app restored after nine days offline |
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| Oct 23 (planned) | Albert Heijn home deliveries set to resume, per company update |
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Background: a second major incident in two years
This is not Ahold Delhaize's first cybersecurity crisis. The company disclosed a breach in November 2024 that affected more than 2 million customers, disrupting deliveries, payments, pharmacy services and online portals, according to Supermarket News. The October 2026 disruption is a separate event, but it has renewed scrutiny of cybersecurity practices at one of the largest grocery operators in the US and Europe.
Questions
- Were Food Lion and Hannaford stores closed during the cyberattack?
- No. Physical stores stayed open and continued normal operations; the incident affected websites, mobile apps and online ordering, not in-store shopping.
- Was customer data stolen in the Ahold Delhaize cyberattack?
- As of its October 19, 2026 update, Ahold Delhaize said it had no evidence that customer, associate or partner data had been taken, though its investigation was ongoing.
- Is the US supermarket cyberattack connected to the French refrigeration hack?
- A Hannaford spokesperson said the company has no reason to believe the Ahold Delhaize incident is related to the attack on French supermarket refrigeration systems, even though both began the same weekend in October 2026.
- Which US grocery chains were affected by the outage?
- Food Lion, Hannaford, Stop & Shop, and Giant Food/The Giant Company — all US banners of Ahold Delhaize — had websites, apps or online ordering disrupted.
- When were the websites and apps restored?
- Food Lion's site and app came back online October 20 after nine days down; other US banners' e-commerce services were still being restored in the days following the company's October 19 update.
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