A cyberattack at Nichirei Logistics Group has jammed part of Japan’s refrigerated food distribution system, creating ingredient shortages at KFC Japan and delivery problems for supermarkets, restaurants and food makers.
Nichirei, which says it serves about 5,000 customers and operates 140 refrigerated distribution centers across Japan, reported a system outage on Monday. On Thursday, the company said hackers had accessed its servers. Nichirei said it disconnected key systems to contain the incident and protect customer information, a defensive move that also slowed or stopped parts of its logistics operation.
The company said warehouse work and frozen food shipments were affected. Nichirei also found that some compromised servers held personal information, and said it had notified Japan’s data protection authorities while its investigation continues. The company said it would report any confirmed data leak.
Nichirei said it expected to start restoring operations gradually on Friday, but did not give a date for a full return to normal service. It has not named a suspected attacker, explained how the intrusion happened or said whether ransomware was involved. The company said it was holding back technical details because of security concerns.
KFC Japan warns of shortages and closures
KFC Japan said unauthorized access at Nichirei disrupted deliveries of ingredients, including Original Recipe chicken, to its network of more than 1,300 restaurants. The company said every store could be affected, depending on local stock.
KFC Japan warned customers that restaurants may cut menu items, shorten opening hours or temporarily close if ingredients run low. It also paused online ordering through its website and mobile app, saying it could not say when ordinary deliveries would resume. The company said some product deliveries were being adjusted because orders could not be filled as placed.
The incident is a reminder that food logistics depends on boring but fragile systems: warehouse software, delivery scheduling, inventory data and access to temperature-controlled facilities. When the operator pulls systems offline to stop an intruder, chicken does not magically find another freezer truck.
Restaurants and retailers report disruption
Other food businesses have also reported problems linked to the Nichirei outage. ITmedia reported disruption at bento chain Hotto Motto and restaurant operator Yayoi Ken. Kura Sushi, the conveyor-belt sushi chain, also disclosed delivery effects.
Japan Forward reported that retail group Aeon said some supermarkets were seeing product shortages. Frozen food maker TableMark said it had been unable to ship goods to retailers and commercial customers.
The Nichirei breach follows a run of cyber incidents disclosed by major Japanese companies in recent weeks, including telecommunications provider KDDI, Aflac’s Japanese unit, electronics manufacturer Nidec and Sapporo Holdings. No evidence has been reported tying those incidents to the Nichirei attack.
This story draws on original reporting from The Record.
