Key facts
- Cooling system temperatures increased and the incident was being investigated, Ahold Delhaize spokesperson Sarah De Meester said.
- Colruyt said fridges in around five Spar stores in Belgium were affected and no Colruyt stores were hit.
- ICA confirmed an incident overnight affecting a small number of stores outside its central network.
- Coop told the daily Aftonbladet that six of its stores had been affected.
- Belgium's Centre for Cybersecurity said it was closely following the incident.
- It is not confirmed that the incidents are connected to the French attacks or used the same software vulnerabilities.
Refrigerators in dozens of supermarkets across Belgium, Sweden and Luxembourg were out of service on Monday, November 2, 2026, local news outlets reported, in what appears to be a repeat of cyber-attacks that hit French supermarkets in mid October.
Several store managers told local media that refrigerator temperatures suddenly rose to up to 50 degrees Celsius. Belgian media reported on Monday morning that temperatures in supermarket refrigerators had suddenly risen, leading stores to throw food away. Supermarket chain Delhaize alerted its store managers early on Monday morning of problems with refrigerators, and Belgian broadcaster RTBF cited a store manager as saying that the problems were due to a cyber-attack like those in France. Dutch media reported that Delhaize stores in Luxembourg are also affected.
A spokesperson for the company said it is aware of an "IT incident affecting the refrigeration systems in a number of Delhaize stores." A spokesperson for Colruyt, which operates Spar stores in Belgium, said in a statement that fridges in "around five" Spar stores have been affected. "We are currently doing everything we can to resolve the issue," they said, adding that no Colruyt stores have been affected. Fifteen Belgian Carrefour stores are reportedly also affected. A spokesperson for the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium said the agency is "closely" following the incident.
Stores in Sweden have also been hit. A spokesperson for supermarket chain ICA confirmed an "incident overnight affecting a small number of ICA stores operating outside ICA's central network" which affected its fridges and freezers. Swedish media also reported that Coop stores have been hit.
French supermarkets were hit with a wave of similar incidents in mid October, when attackers hit refrigerators by Danfoss, a Danish manufacturer of store fridges. The attacks in France triggered a response from the country's prime minister and its cybersecurity agency. Danfoss did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It is not confirmed that the attacks are connected or used the same software vulnerabilities that hit French chains in October.