Maple Leaf Foods operations disrupted by cyberattack

Maple Leaf Foods is currently experiencing a system disruption related to a cybersecurity incident, the company confirmed.

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(Maple Leaf Foods)
(Maple Leaf Foods)

Maple Leaf Foods is currently experiencing a system disruption related to a cybersecurity incident, the company confirmed.

The pork, poultry and turkey company “took immediate action and engaged cybersecurity and recovery experts” once it learned of the incident.

“The Company is executing its business continuity plans as it works to restore the impacted systems; however, it expects that full resolution of the outage will take time and result in some operational and service disruptions. The Company will continue to work with all its customers and suppliers to minimize these disruptions in order to continue delivering the nutritious food people need,” according to a company statement on Sunday, November 6.

Several recent data breaches and cyberattacks, including one at JBS USA in June 2021 that temporarily idled operations at meat processing plants in the U.S., Canada and Australia, have highlighted the need for tougher cybersecurity protocols in the poultry industry.

Maple Leaf Foods is currently investigating how the cyberattack occurred, but did note that the disruption created some operational and service disruptions that vary by business unit, plant and site.

"At this time, we are focused on restoring business continuity. We do expect some disruption in our operations and service levels as we work through the restoration process, but our team is deploying our business continuity plan and implementing workarounds to mitigate the impact on our operations and business," a company spokesperson said in an e-mail to WATTPoultry.com.

According to WATTPoultry.com’s top companies database, Maple Leaf Foods’ product lines include packaged meats, ready-to-cook and ready-to-serve meal products and value-added fresh pork, poultry and turkey.

The meat processor recently completed construction on its state-of-the-art production plant in London, Ontario. The value-added poultry plant is expected to start production in Q4 2022 with 600 hires by the end of the year and an additional 1,600 after reaching operational capacity. 

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