Ahold Delhaize Hit by Cybersecurity Incident in Belgium

A cybersecurity incident at Ahold Delhaize, the Dutch-Belgian retail group behind Albert Heijn, Delhaize, Etos and Gall & Gall, has knocked out online ordering, apps and customer service at two of Belgium and the Netherlands’ largest supermarket chains. The company detected the problem on Sunday afternoon and took several systems offline as a precaution, disrupting operations into Monday.

Physical stores remained open and checkouts continued to work, but online-ordered groceries could not be delivered, and both chains’ websites, apps and customer-service lines were unavailable. Ahold Delhaize declined to say whether customer or employee data had been compromised, and gave no timeline for full restoration.

What Happened

According to VRT NWS, the incident began on Sunday afternoon and became publicly reported on Monday morning. Albert Heijn took immediate measures to protect its IT environment, including the precautionary temporary disabling of a number of systems.

At Albert Heijn, the customer service and logistics systems were disabled, meaning online-ordered groceries cannot be delivered. The website and app do not work. The chain’s loyalty and savings systems tied to the Mijn AH app and personal Bonus Card — including Mijn Bonus Box — are also offline. Customers who miss out on personal discounts are being asked to keep their receipts and will be compensated later.

At Delhaize, the impact for customers is more limited. “The stores are open and the checkout system works. For the customer there is relatively little impact… It is mainly internal IT systems that have been disabled preventively,” a Delhaize spokesperson said, as HLN reported. Delhaize’s website and app remain functional, and its distribution centre is still operating, allowing Monday’s planned store deliveries to proceed.

Price Tag Problems

A particular quirk has frustrated Albert Heijn shoppers. The chain’s electronic shelf price tags still display last week’s promotional prices, so a product that was on promotion last week may show a lower shelf price than the price charged at the till. The chain recommends customers use a handscanner, which shows the correct promotional price, ask a staff member, or check at the checkout.

RTL Z reported that the incident also affects Etos and Gall & Gall, the group’s drugstore and liquor brands, which fall under the same parent company.

Data Question Remains Open

It is not yet clear whether customer data was leaked. “We are investigating the incident and working to restore our services. The protection of our customers’, employees’ and partners’ data is paramount,” Albert Heijn said in a statement. The parent company has described the event as a cybersecurity issue in its network, with the system shutdowns framed as necessary protective measures.

“As soon as there is more clarity, we will share an update,” the chain added, offering “sincere apologies” for the disruption.

A Pattern of Disruption

This is not Ahold Delhaize’s first brush with cyber disruption. In November 2024, a cyber attack hit the group’s US business, affecting brands including Giant Food, Hannaford, Food Lion, Stop & Shop and The Giant Company, disrupting pharmacies and e-commerce operations. As SecurityAffairs reported, the company took systems offline and notified law enforcement, though it declined to give specifics — actions that suggested a possible ransomware attack.

Follow-up reporting by Trends indicated the November 2024 US attack potentially exposed data belonging to 2.2 million people, with the company notifying those affected. That precedent raises the question of whether the latest European incident could also involve a data compromise, though no evidence of one has yet emerged.

Market Reaction

Investors were unsettled. The Ahold Delhaize share price fell on Monday, reported around 1.3% to 2% in the red depending on the time of the trading session. The company declined to say whether the problem affects other parts of the group or other countries where it operates.

Ahold Delhaize employs roughly 402,000 people across about 7,716 stores in nine countries, and its Belgian and Dutch operations sit at the heart of its European business.

What to Watch

Several questions remain unanswered: the nature and root cause of the incident, whether any personal data was compromised, whether authorities have been notified, and how long the disruptions will last. Both the Albert Heijn media-statement page and the Ahold Delhaize newsroom were returning HTTP 503 errors when accessed during reporting, underscoring that the company’s public communications remained strained as it worked to contain the event.

For shoppers, the practical effects — missing deliveries, unreachable customer service, and confusing shelf prices — are likely to persist until the group completes its investigation and brings systems back online.