Blue Yonder, a major Arizona-based software company that provides supply-chain management services to large grocery stores in the US and UK, has been hit by a ransomware attack. The attack, which occurred over the weekend, targeted Blue Yonder’s private cloud computing services used by some of its clients but did not affect its public cloud environment.
While the company did not disclose which specific clients were affected, internal communications reviewed by CNN show that Blue Yonder is working urgently with its US-based clients to manage and mitigate the impact.
On November 21, 2024, Blue Yonder confirmed the disruption, revealing that the ransomware incident had impacted its managed services hosted environment. The company has made progress in its recovery but has not provided a timeline for full restoration.
The immediate impact was felt in the UK, where two of the largest grocery chains, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, experienced delays. Morrisons, which operates nearly 500 stores in the UK, reverted to a backup process, though it acknowledged that the smooth flow of goods to stores had been disrupted.
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s confirmed that it had contingency processes in place to handle the outage, though it too experienced some delays.
In the US, major grocery chains such as Albertsons (owner of Safeway and Jewel-Osco) and Kroger (owner of Ralphs and Fred Meyer) also use Blue Yonder’s services. Albertsons and Kroger have not yet responded to requests for comment.
Blue Yonder, which was acquired by Panasonic in 2021, also serves prominent companies such as Procter & Gamble and Anheuser-Busch. These companies have not commented on the incident either.
The ransomware attack highlights the growing threat to supply chains and the critical services provided to major retailers across the globe. Blue Yonder is working on securing its systems and restoring operations, though full recovery may take time.
