Specialty Food Stores NAICS 4452

Jul 13, 2025 - Cyberattack Empties Shelves

• Shoppers at Whole Foods Market and other grocery stores encountered sparsely-stocked and bare shelves following a cyberattack on distributor United Natural Foods (UNFI) in June, The Wall Street Journal reports. The cyberattack cut into sales over several days as Whole Foods and UNFI’s other retail customers weren’t able to place orders through regular digital channels leaving many grocery store shelves bare, according to WSJ. The incident exposed the food supply chain’s vulnerability to cyberattacks, with some retailers unable to place orders with the distributor and UNFI unable to order from food companies. Retailers heavily dependent on a primary distributor are especially vulnerable to supply disruptions from cyberattacks and must rely on manual processes or scramble to find backup suppliers during outages. Whole Foods’ contract with UNFI requires it to maintain cyber insurance and a business-continuity plan that's tested regularly, with written results provided to Whole Foods.
• Higher earners – those most able to afford to shop at specialty food stores – are visiting dollar stores in search of discounts amid a contracting economy, The Wall Street Journal reports. Dollar Tree and Dollar General reported increased sales this spring due to an influx of middle- and upper-income customers, according to WSJ. Dollar Tree’s CEO told analysts that the company added 2.6 million new customers in its fiscal first quarter, with most coming from households with annual incomes above $100,000. Also, the CEO of Dollar General reported seeing increased “trade-in” activity from middle- and higher-income customers, while its core lower-income customer remains financially constrained. Years of high food price inflation have caused consumers to trade down by purchasing cheaper private label goods and shopping at discount grocery chains like Aldi and Walmart and dollar stores.

• US sales of certified organic products accelerated in 2024 with an annual growth rate of 5.2%, more than double that of the overall marketplace, which grew at 2.5% over the same period, according to the 2025 Organic Market Report released by the Organic Trade Association. Dollar sales hit a new high of $71.6 billion, with organic food sales totaling $65.4 billion and sales of organic nonfood products at $6.2 billion. As food price inflation moderated last year, the gap between conventional and organic prices across categories including grocery and dairy narrowed, making shoppers more likely to buy organic, according to OTA. Organic produce held on to the top spot, accounting for 30.1% of total organic sales with a growth rate of 5.2% for the year. Organic berry sales rose 10.3%, while sales of organic bananas climbed 15.5%.
• Producer prices for specialty food stores fell 6.7% in May compared to a year ago, after rising 11.6% in the previous May-versus-May annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Producer prices are easing even as consumer prices for food-at-home (grocery store or supermarket food purchases) increased 0.2% from April to May and were 2.2% higher than in May 2024, per the BLS. Meanwhile, employment by specialty food stores grew 1.6% year over year in April, while average industry wages climbed 6.9% over the same period to a new high of $19.74 per hour.