Sponsored By

Starbucks hit with disruptions following third-party ransomware attackStarbucks hit with disruptions following third-party ransomware attack

Starbucks is one of several retailers impacted by the Blue Yonder ransomware attack, and employee platforms are impacted

Joanna Fantozzi, Senior Editor

November 25, 2024

1 Min Read
Starbucks employee holding a drink
Starbucks is working hard to get their systems back online. Starbucks

Starbucks Corp. on Monday confirmed that the Seattle-based coffee chain is facing employee-side disruptions following a ransomware attack on third-party vendor, Blue Yonder.

The attack disrupted Starbucks’ back-end processes that affect employee scheduling and hours management, though the company said that it was working to ensure its employees were fully paid for the hours worked. The ransomware attack had not affected consumer-side service.

The ransomware attack on Blue Yonder occurred last week, the Panasonic-owned software supply chain company confirmed in a media statement, according to CNN. As the company reportedly continued to make progress on service restoration, several grocery chains were also affected by the outage, including UK-based supermarkets, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s. While several other American companies use Blue Yonder, like Anheuser-Busch, Campbell’s, Dole, Kroger, and Wegmans, none of these companies directly addressed the attack or confirmed if they were affected as well.

Starbucks provided store leaders and managers guidance on how to work around the outage manually and continued to keep employees informed about progress on the third-party cybersecurity attack.

This is not the only cybersecurity blip to affect a major foodservice company this year. Earlier this year, both McDonald’s and Panera reported tech outages that disrupted the customer service side of operations. In the case of McDonald’s, the outage was not due to a security threat, though Panera’s outage was later revealed to be the result of a cybersecurity issue, and employees later filed a class action lawsuit after their personal information was leaked.

Related:Starbucks to offer in-app delivery for the first time in partnership with DoorDash

Contact Joanna at [email protected]

About the Author

Joanna Fantozzi

Senior Editor

Joanna Fantozzi is a Senior Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality. She has more than seven years of experience writing about the restaurant and hospitality industry. Her editorial coverage ranges from profiles of independent restaurants around the country to breaking news and insights into some of the biggest brands in food and beverage, including Starbucks, Domino’s, and Papa John’s.  

Joanna holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature and creative writing from The College of New Jersey and a master’s degree in arts and culture journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Prior to joining Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group in 2018, she was a freelance food, culture, and lifestyle writer, and has previously held editorial positions at Insider (formerly known as Business Insider) and The Daily Meal. Joanna’s work can also be found in The New York Times, Forbes, Vice, The New York Daily News, and Parents Magazine. 

Her areas of expertise include restaurant industry news, restaurant operator solutions and innovations, and political/cultural issues.

Joanna Fantozzi has been a moderator and event facilitator at both Informa’s MUFSO and Restaurants Rise industry events. 

Joanna Fantozzi’s experience:

Senior Editor, Informa Restaurant & Food Group (August 2021-present)

Associate Editor, Informa Restaurant & Food Group (July 2019-August 2021)

Assistant Editor, Informa Restaurant & Food Group (Oct. 2018-July 2019)

Freelance Food & Lifestyle Reporter (Feb. 2018-Oct. 2018)

Food & Lifestyle Reporter, Insider (June 2017-Feb. 2018)

News Editor, The Daily Meal (Jan. 2014- June 2017)

Staff Reporter, Straus News (Jan. 2013-Dec. 2013)

Subscribe Nation's Restaurant News Newsletters
Get the latest breaking news in the industry, analysis, research, recipes, consumer trends, the latest products and more.