Suspected cyberattacks have hit refrigeration systems in several countries, forcing retailers to remove potentially spoiled food from their shelves and threatening fresh disruption to European supermarkets. The incidents, reported Nov. 2, have raised concerns about the security of digitally connected supermarket equipment. Retailers in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg and Ireland have reported problems and investigators are still trying to establish who was behind it.
The latest cyberattack affected several major retail groups, including Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt in Belgium and Luxembourg and Swedish supermarket operators ICA and Coop, Reuters reported. It also struck at least one IKEA store in Belgium. The incidents have caused warmer temperatures in refrigerators and freezers, creating issues for stores that require controlled cooling systems to store fresh and frozen products.
In Sweden, an ICA franchise store in Stockholm reported that its freezers had reached 50 degrees Celsius. The incident took place at about 2 a.m. local time but was discovered several hours later, store sales manager Engla Ingwall told Reuters. The store had big food losses. Frozen items that could not be sold.
ICA said an incident overnight that affected refrigeration and freezer equipment has impacted a small number of its stores. Similar problems were reported by Swedish grocery retailer Coop. Reuters reported Coop said seven of its roughly 800 stores had unauthorized interference with their refrigeration systems. The company named Danfoss as one of its equipment suppliers.
Cyberattack Disrupts Belgian and Irish Retailers, Affecting Food Products
The effect wasn’t only felt in Sweden. Ahold Delhaize said it was experiencing an IT incident that was affecting refrigeration systems in some stores in Belgium and Luxembourg. Colruyt Group said five shops running under the Spar franchise had also experienced problems with their refrigeration systems. Affected retailers began responding to the incidents as investigations into the technical cause were underway.
Ireland also reported disruption, with wholesaler Musgrave confirming 13 of its SuperValu stores had been affected. Some chilled and frozen products were withdrawn from sale as a precaution. The company said it had detected the problem through its monitoring systems and had acted immediately.
The incident affected 15 of Carrefour Belgium’s more than 700 stores, the company said. One Belgian store was confirmed to have been hit, but the company did not rule out disruption at other stores. From the reported cases we get an impression of how a relatively small problem with refrigeration equipment can easily become a major operational headache for big retail companies.
Food Losses Raise Financial Concerns
The financial impact could be significant for individual businesses, especially those that sell fresh meat and other temperature-sensitive products. “There was around €15,000 ($15,800) worth of meat that was spoiled,” Belgian butcher Luc De Laet, founder of De Laet & Van Haver, told Reuters. Temperatures in refrigeration cases at his store have climbed to 18 degrees Celsius.
Supermarkets face significant risks when it comes to maintaining the proper temperature for food quality and safety. If the refrigeration equipment is not working correctly, the retailer must remove the affected products to avoid selling potentially unsafe food.
