Lincoln’s Open Harvest Co-op warns of shortages after cyberattack on food distributor

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A cyberattack on one of nation’s largest food distributors, United Natural Foods Inc., is leaving shelves sparse at some stores.

After a cyberattack forced the company to shut down systems and pause deliveries, stores like Open Harvest Co-op in Lincoln are feeling the impact.

“UNFI is the main natural food distributor in the U.S., so it meant that we couldn’t get our trucks,” Open Harvest general manager Amy Tabor said. “And we are still unable to place orders at this time.”

She said being an independently owned store makes this a bit harder than it for larger nationwide stores.

To be proactive, she said the store is working closely with local producers and smaller distributors to keep essentials in stock.

Tabor said local food systems can help fill the gap when there’s a “glitch or disruption” in the national food system.

But she admits some delays are inevitable.

“It will start mostly with our more fresh items, like produce and dairy, and those holes will show up first,” she said. “Probably some of our packaged grocery items, our popular items, we might be running low on those things.”

Despite the disruptions, Open Harvest said it will be transparent with its customers and hopes UNFI will go back to normal operations soon.