How the cyberattack against UNFI affected four independent grocers
UNFI has not indicated when it expects to resume processing orders online, but said in a statement posted on its website on Sunday that it has "made significant progress toward safely restoring our electronic ordering systems, which will allow us to serve the customers that order through these systems in a more automated way and continue to increase our operational capacity."
Gilpin Matthews, co-owner of Darlings Grocery, a natural foods retailer in La Pointe, Wisconsin, that relies on UNFI for about two-thirds of the products it sells, said he realized something was wrong when he put in his order on June 8 but did not receive confirmation from the distributor.
To help keep his store's shelves stocked in the absence of the UNFI delivery he normally receives, Matthews turned to Minnesota-based grocery wholesaler Mason Brothers, which supplies Darlings with conventional products such as canned goods. But that meant Darlings was unable last week to provide shoppers with the full range of organic products it ordinarily sells, because Mason Brothers doesn't offer as large a selection of those goods as UNFI, Matthews said.
Matthews also turned to foodservice company Sysco, which supplies products for a restaurant he owns, to obtain conventional produce.
"Empty shelves don't look good, and if people go in and they can't get the things that they need … they're going to go somewhere else," Matthews said. "We were just scrambling, because we had no notice."
Occupying a former convenience store space, Darlings has limited cold storage space, so it is especially dependent on regular deliveries, Matthews added. He noted that determining what quantity of goods to order from alternative suppliers poses a particular challenge, because the natural foods store will likely not be able to sell conventional products it brings in and substitutes once its regular orders from UNFI resume.
Orcas Food Co-op also turned to third-party suppliers after its regular delivery from UNFI didn't arrive last week, said Learner Limbach, the grocer's chief cooperative officer. The co-op, located in Eastsound, Washington, relies on UNFI for a significant percentage of the goods it sells, but also sources products from dozens of local suppliers.
"We're not overly reliant on a single supplier," Limbach said. "This is just a good chance to highlight to our members a lot of the other producers we work with directly."
When Charley Family Shop 'n Save in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, found out on June 7 about UNFI's system issues, the grocer quickly reached out to organization including the National Grocers Association, Tom Charley, co-owner of the grocer, said in a video posted on social media last week. That networking helped the grocer connect with MDI, a wholesaler based in North Carolina, Charley said.
Partnering with MDI as well as tapping local and fresh suppliers helped the store stay almost fully stocked as the UNFI disruptions continued, Charley added, noting that the store's management team adjusted "on the fly" to these challenges.
"It's not like you can just typically find a supplier that can supply all of the grocery, dairy and frozen needs of a grocery store that you've never done business with," Charley said.
Eric Siperas, manager of a LaBonne's Markets location in Salisbury, Connecticut, pointed out that grocers benefit by contracting with a primary distributor because they are able to get better pricing by doing so.
LaBonne's, which runs four supermarkets that sell mostly conventional products, sources the majority of its groceries from Connecticut-based grocery distributor Bozzuto's, but obtains some natural and gluten-free products from UNFI. LaBonne's can only use alternative suppliers for items that Bozzuto's doesn't offer because of its arrangement with the distributor, Siperas said.
Siperas said LaBonne's ran out of some items that it ordinarily gets from UNFI last week because it was unable to submit an order on June 7, but that the disruption did not pose a significant problem for the grocer. He added that he was able to access UNFI's portal on Saturday to place an order for this week.
The cyberattack also hurt UNFI's ability to serve stores run by Whole Foods Market, its most visible customer.
A Whole Foods spokesperson said last week that the chain was working to restock its stores but referred questions about UNFI's ability to fulfill its orders to the distributor. The UNFI spokesperson said the company was unable to comment on its ability to serve specific customers.
UNFI said in an emailed statement on Monday that pharmacies operated by its Cub grocery chain are again able to fill prescriptions following disruptions related to the cyberattack last week.
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