Supermarket fridges and freezers warm overnight in Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg

Refrigerators and freezers at supermarkets in Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg warmed up overnight into Monday, 2 November 2026.

Ahold Delhaize said an "IT incident" hit fridges and freezers in dozens of its supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg. The Swedish chains ICA and Coop both said some of their stores were affected.

The incident follows a cyberattack on supermarket cooling systems in France in October 2026.

Details reported so far

According to The Guardian, Ahold Delhaize spokesperson Sarah De Meester said temperatures in the cooling systems had increased and the incident was being investigated. The Guardian also reported that Ahold Delhaize reported a cybersecurity incident to Dutch police last month.

According to the South China Morning Post, the Belgian retailer Colruyt also said an IT incident overnight hit fridges and freezers in stores in Belgium and Luxembourg.

The Guardian, citing Belgium's Le Soir, reported that affected Belgian sites included five Spar outlets, several Shop & Go stores at Q8 service stations and a number of Proxy Delhaize minimarkets. "We started mobilising technicians at 1am," Stephan Moelans, chief executive of the refrigeration installer Sabcobel, said, according to The Guardian citing Le Soir. "We spent all night and morning disconnecting the affected installations from the grid."

In Sweden, Coop told the daily Aftonbladet that six of its stores were affected, according to The Guardian. ICA said it was "aware that a limited number of stores were affected by an incident overnight which impacted their refrigeration and freezer systems", The Guardian reported.

The South China Morning Post quoted Engla Ingwall, a sales manager at an ICA franchise store in Stockholm, as saying: "There has been a cyberattack and all our freezers reached 50 degrees Celsius." According to the newspaper, she said it happened at 2am local time and was noticed only hours later.

What is disputed

It is not established that the incident was a cyberattack. The Guardian describes a "suspected" cyber-attack. The South China Morning Post states that stores were "hit by a hack". The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not describe any company or authority in the three countries confirming a cyberattack.

What each side says

Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt describe an IT incident. ICA and Coop say a limited number of stores were affected. The ICA franchise manager quoted by the South China Morning Post says it was a cyberattack.

The French attack

According to The Guardian, French police said in October that hackers seized control of cooling units at up to 700 supermarkets. The Guardian reported that controllers were mostly supplied by Danfoss, which said it had "long recommended" that customers install updates. The Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation.

What is not known

The reports do not identify who was responsible, which controllers were involved or the total number of affected stores, and they do not quantify losses, although the South China Morning Post's headline quotes "everything is destroyed". They do not establish a link to the French attack or to the incident Ahold Delhaize reported to Dutch police.

Analysis

If investigators establish that this was a cyberattack, it would add to questions about the security of remotely managed refrigeration controllers in Europe, already under scrutiny in France. Possible scenarios include a link to the French campaign, a separate attack, or a cause not yet identified. The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not favour any of these. Points to watch include statements from authorities in Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg, identification of the equipment vendors involved, and any figures on food or financial losses. One account that freezers went unnoticed for hours may also prompt retailers to review overnight monitoring.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.