Albert Heijn keeps shops open, but deliveries remain limited
Vegetables, fruit and dairy products are particularly scarce as distribution systems are still not fully operational.
Follow-up to: Empty shelves follow cyber incident at Albert Heijn Tuesday, 13 October 2026, 09:28
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Supplies to Albert Heijn remain limited on Tuesday after several distribution centres were shut down following a digital security incident. Fresh products are particularly absent from some shops; bread, ambient products and frozen goods are generally more readily available.
Albert Heijn says the impact varies by shop and product group. According to NOS, a branch in Lelystad received three of the 20 expected pallets. The supermarket chain has given no general estimate for when its logistics systems will be restored.
The company shut down systems on Sunday to protect its IT environment. As a result, the website, app, customer service and online deliveries are temporarily unavailable. The shops are nevertheless remaining open, according to parent company Ahold Delhaize.
The outage is also affecting price information. Electronic shelf labels may still show offers from last week, while this week’s promotions are not always visible. Nationwide bonus offers are still being processed at the checkout, according to Albert Heijn. Personal discounts and savings programmes are temporarily unavailable.
Albert Heijn has asked customers to keep their till receipts. The company says it wants to compensate customers when personal discounts could not be used because of the outage. It is not yet clear exactly when that compensation will be arranged.
The cause of the incident has not been made public. Albert Heijn’s senior management says it is still being investigated whether unauthorised parties gained access to the systems. This means it has not been established that a successful hack took place; the term ‘cyber incident’ also covers systems shut down as a precaution.
The incident affects more than just the shop floor. When distribution centres cannot plan, order and dispatch goods, the damage quickly spreads to suppliers, delivery drivers and customers. Other supermarket chains are meanwhile seeing additional online demand, but that does not automatically mean they can take over the full demand.
For consumers, the practical situation is therefore simple but variable for the time being: shops are open, but the range may differ from branch to branch. Until the systems have been fully restored, fresh groceries and online orders in particular will remain uncertain.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The article’s core is supported by current reporting from NOS and Ahold Delhaize’s statement. The cause of the incident has deliberately not been presented as a hack or data breach.
- confirmed Several Albert Heijn distribution centres have been shut down and fresh products are being supplied in limited quantities. — NOS quotes Albert Heijn and describes limited deliveries, particularly of fresh products. source
- confirmed Albert Heijn shops remain open while systems have been taken offline. — Ahold Delhaize reports that the shops are open; NOS describes the same situation. source
- confirmed The website, app, customer service and online deliveries are temporarily unavailable. — This is stated in the official statement from Albert Heijn and Ahold Delhaize. source
- confirmed It has not been established that unauthorised parties gained access to the systems. — According to NOS, Albert Heijn’s CEO says this is still being investigated. source
Editor's note
It is certain that systems were shut down as a precaution, shops remain open and supplies vary by shop. The cause, any access by malicious parties and the duration of the recovery remain unknown.Sources
The story so far
- Monday, 12 October 2026, 07:30 Websites and apps of Ahold shops hit by outage
- Monday, 12 October 2026, 08:28 IT incident hits three Ahold retail chains
- Monday, 12 October 2026, 10:58 Ahold shuts down systems after security incident
- Monday, 12 October 2026, 14:58 Ahold investigates security incident, shops remain open
- Monday, 12 October 2026, 16:01 Picnic and Jumbo see extra demand after Albert Heijn outage
- Monday, 12 October 2026, 22:30 Albert Heijn distribution centres halted, empty shelves loom
- Tuesday, 13 October 2026, 07:57 Albert Heijn websites remain offline after cyber incident
- Tuesday, 13 October 2026, 08:59 Albert Heijn halts deliveries after cyber incident
- Tuesday, 13 October 2026, 09:28 Empty shelves follow cyber incident at Albert Heijn
- Tuesday, 13 October 2026, 12:27 Albert Heijn keeps shops open, but deliveries remain limited (this article)