De Vector

Ahold begins controlled restart after cyber incident

The group has so far found no indication that customer data was stolen, but online ordering remains unavailable.

There is news on this story (Tuesday, 13 October 2026, 16:00): Ahold has yet to find signs of customer-data theft

Follow-up to: Albert Heijn partly recovers, delivery remains unavailable Tuesday, 13 October 2026, 14:59

Ahold Delhaize began a controlled restart of some IT systems on Tuesday following the security incident that began on Sunday. The group says there is no indication that customer or company data has been stolen, but the investigation into the cause is still ongoing.

The new phase does not mean that all services have returned. Albert Heijn, Etos and Gall & Gall say that shops are open and payments are working, while the website, app, customer service and online grocery deliveries are still unavailable. The parent company describes this as a controlled restart of certain systems, with components being tested step by step.

Ahold Delhaize has not said that no data was definitively taken. The group has only reported that there is currently no indication of this. It has also not yet been established whether unauthorised parties actually gained access, how the incident began or whether it was an attack from outside.

In the shops, digital shelf labels have now been restored for regular prices. Personal discounts and loyalty promotions, such as Koopzegels and Air Miles, are not yet working fully. Albert Heijn is asking customers to keep their receipts in case compensation is offered. The nationwide Bonus offers will, the company says, still be applied at the till.

Supplies are also gradually getting back up to speed. Several distribution centres are operational again and the group is deploying additional deliveries. Albert Heijn is warning at the same time that availability may vary by shop and product group. Long-life products, bread and frozen goods are expected to remain more readily available than some fresh products.

The outage affects several countries and brands within the same group, but according to Reuters, Ahold Delhaize sees no reason to link it to the separate cyberattack on French supermarkets. In that incident, the refrigeration systems of shops were affected remotely. The company has shared no technical details about the incident in the Netherlands.

For customers, the main change is therefore in the physical shop: prices are once again more clearly visible and supplies are being restored, but digital services remain limited. The group must now manage the difficult combination of recovery, investigation and preservation of evidence. No full timetable for recovery has been given.

Respond to this article

← Back to the edition