Dairy company Fairlife suspends production in US after cyber incident
Coca-Cola’s Fairlife dairy unit has temporarily halted U.S. production following a ransomware attack. The company is investigating the incident, and while product quality and consumer data are not believed to be compromised, the full scope of the intrusion remains unknown. This follows a trend of cyberattacks targeting food and beverage companies globally.
Coca-Cola’s Fairlife dairy unit has temporarily suspended production in the United States after detecting a ransomware attack. The company announced the incident on Thursday, stating that a full investigation is underway to determine the extent of the intrusion. Fairlife’s operations in Canada remain unaffected.
Fairlife’s U.S. facilities are located in Michigan, New York, and Arizona. The Fairlife brand, which dates back to 1994, gained national prominence in 2015, and Coca-Cola acquired full control of the brand in 2020, achieving over $1 billion in annual retail sales in 2022.
The incident highlights a growing trend of cyberattacks targeting the food and beverage industry. Recent attacks have impacted companies like Japanese brewer Sapporo and a major refrigerated logistics company supporting Kentucky Fried Chicken. Russian dairy companies have also experienced intrusions.
Coca-Cola has not yet disclosed the ransomware group responsible or whether any corporate or consumer data was compromised. The company is cooperating with law enforcement.