Ahold Delhaize Confirms Network Security Problem as Three Dutch Chains' Sites, Deliveries and Distribution Centres Go Down
Retail group Ahold Delhaize, headquartered in Zaandam, said on the morning of Monday, 12 October 2026 that it had found a security issue within its network and had taken several systems offline as a precaution, while its teams investigated and worked to contain the problem. The statement was published as inside information under EU market-abuse rules. The group gave no timetable for restoring its services.
The most visible impact hit the group's Dutch chains: the websites and apps of supermarket Albert Heijn, drugstore chain Etos and liquor retailer Gall & Gall had been unreachable since Sunday afternoon, 11 October; customer service was down and online grocery orders were not being delivered until further notice. Reports collected by outage tracker Allestoringen showed problems surfacing from Sunday morning and flaring up again on Monday morning; the group's webshop Bol appeared unaffected.
Physical stores stayed open, checkouts worked and the nationwide offers in this week's leaflet applied. But electronic shelf labels still showed the previous week's prices and promotions, and all savings functions linked to the Albert Heijn app — personal Bonus offers, the personal Bonus Box, savings stamps and Air Miles — were out of action. Albert Heijn said customers who missed personal discounts because of the outage would be compensated and asked them to keep their receipts.
Behind the scenes the impact was larger: with logistics systems switched off, several distribution centres stood idle. Albert Heijn's chief executive Margaret Versteden-Van Duijn confirmed the distribution-centre shutdowns to NOS, though the company would not say how many centres were affected. With replenishment disrupted, stores were expected to receive fewer goods in the following days, with fresh products most at risk of empty shelves.
As of Monday, Ahold Delhaize had not confirmed whether the incident was a hack. NOS reported on Monday evening that experts considered a cyberattack possible, because a company does not take such far-reaching shutdown measures without reason. According to the Twinkle100 ranking published the previous week, Albert Heijn's online annual turnover is estimated at about 2.3 billion euros.
Sources: Ahold Delhaize and Albert Heijn statements, 12 October 2026; NOS, AD and Emerce, 12 October 2026.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 荷兰乌伊特惠曾（Uithuizen）的一家Albert Heijn超市，同址设有Gall & Gall与Etos门店。摄影：Mr-ahk，CC BY-SA 4.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons（Albert Heijn Uithuizen 2026.png）
