Ahold Delhaize said on 12 October 2026 (Zaandam, Netherlands, 08:29 Europe/Amsterdam) that it is experiencing a security issue within its network and is taking steps to assess and mitigate it, including taking some systems offline to help protect them.

The company said its stores are open and serving customers, and that protecting infrastructure for customers, associates and partners is a top priority.

The release is marked as inside information under the EU Market Abuse Regulation. BleepingComputer reported the same day that employees at Stop & Shop (US) had trouble accessing schedules and pay stubs, and that customers could not use websites, apps and customer-service platforms at Albert Heijn, Etos and Gall & Gall in the Netherlands and Delhaize in Belgium. An internal Food Lion memo described an IT outage that could leave stores unable to shop, stage or hand off online orders.

Ahold Delhaize operates more than 9,400 stores across Europe, the United States and Indonesia. The company has not publicly confirmed ransomware, encryption, data theft or a named threat actor for this incident. It is separate from the November 2024 INC Ransom event that Ahold Delhaize previously disclosed as affecting more than 2.2 million individuals in its US systems. Primary: Ahold Delhaize newsroom (12 Oct); wire: BleepingComputer (12 Oct).

UPDATE 13 and 19 October 2026 (Ahold Delhaize newsroom): on 13 October the company said it had begun a controlled re-launch of certain systems and had no evidence that customer, associate or partner data was taken.

On 19 October it said the investigation confirmed the suspicious activity in its IT infrastructure resulted from the malicious actions of others. Taking systems offline, including brand websites and apps, affected most of its brands in Europe and the United States, while all stores stayed open. It notified the Dutch National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) within 24 hours, has kept the NCSC, law enforcement and regulators updated, and filed a formal police report with the Dutch police on 19 October.

Restoration: Albert Heijn's website and app are back, with home deliveries expected from Friday 23 October; Etos and Gall & Gall websites are available; Belgian e-commerce is fully operational; most websites and apps in Central and Southeastern Europe are available; e-commerce at the Ahold Delhaize USA brands (such as Food Lion and Stop & Shop) is expected back in the coming days.

The company again says it has no evidence so far that sensitive customer, associate or partner data was taken, and it is not describing the attack type or saying whether a ransom is involved. Wire: The Record (19 Oct).