Chief executive Frans Muller apologised for the disruption, saying that taking systems offline was a precautionary measure and that "the investigation to date confirms this was the right decision." The company has not described the nature of the attack or whether a ransom was involved, saying further details could compromise its security measures or response efforts.

There is currently no evidence that sensitive customer, employee or partner data was stolen, though the investigation is ongoing. Ahold Delhaize notified Dutch cybersecurity authorities within 24 hours of detecting the incident and filed a police report in the Netherlands on Monday.

Recovery is uneven. Albert Heijn's website and app are back online in the Netherlands, but home deliveries are not expected to resume until Friday. Belgian e-commerce is fully operational, as are most websites and apps across central and southeastern Europe. US online shopping at Food Lion, Giant Food, Martin's, Hannaford and Stop & Shop is expected to return in the coming days.

It is the company's second cyberattack in two years. A November 2024 intrusion disrupted brands across the group, and Ahold Delhaize later determined that the personal, financial and health details of more than 2.2 million people had been compromised. INC Ransom claimed responsibility at the time and leaked documents reportedly taken from the retailer's systems. The Register reports that the company did not answer questions about whether this incident is linked to attacks on refrigeration controllers at hundreds of French supermarkets from October 11, which reportedly pushed temperatures as high as 50°C, spoiling food and causing fires at some locations.