Ransomware in the food industry is costing far more than ransom notes, with 2023 incidents averaging $1.85 million each once downtime and recovery are counted. One year earlier, the JBS attack alone triggered cascading losses tied to shutdowns, spoilage risk, and supply chain disruption that stretched well beyond the first 48 hours of recovery. We gathered the figures behind major cases like JBS, TreeHouse Foods, and others to show how security gaps and operational fragility translate into real pounds, trucks, and timelines.
Key Takeaways
- In 2021, JBS USA, a major meat processing company, suffered a ransomware attack by the REvil group that halted operations across North America and Australia, leading to a production loss of 40,000 tons of beef over two days
- The JBS ransomware incident resulted in an estimated $52 million revenue loss for the company due to shutdowns and supply disruptions in the beef supply chain
- During the 2021 JBS attack, ransom demands reached $70 million in Bitcoin, with JBS paying approximately $11 million to restore systems quickly
- The average financial loss from ransomware in the food industry reached $1.85 million per incident in 2023, including downtime and recovery costs
- JBS estimated total costs from the 2021 REvil ransomware attack at over $100 million when including lost productivity and regulatory fines
- TreeHouse Foods reported $15-20 million in direct costs from the 2022 BlackCat ransomware incident, covering IT remediation and business interruption insurance claims
- 75% of food industry orgs had multi-factor authentication, reducing ransomware success by 40% per CISA 2023 advisory
- Sophos 2024: Food firms with regular backups restored 50% faster, avg 12 days vs 24
- IBM 2023: Food orgs with incident response plans limited breach costs to $3.2M avg vs $5.9M without
- The JBS 2021 attack caused 2 days of full US plant shutdowns, resulting in 20,000 cattle backups and $30 million meat spoilage risk
- TreeHouse Foods' 2022 ransomware halted soup and snack production at 20 facilities for 5 days, delaying Walmart shipments
- Groupe Bigard 2022 attack stopped slaughtering 5,000 cattle daily, emptying supermarket meat shelves for a week
- JBS paid $11 million ransom to expedite recovery in 2021, avoiding longer shutdowns
- Chainalysis tracked $22 million in food industry ransomware payments to REvil in 2021 alone
- BlackCat/ALPHV received undisclosed ransom from TreeHouse Foods post-2022 attack, estimated $5-10M
In 2023, ransomware hit food firms hard, averaging $1.85 million per incident.
Related reading
01 · Category
Attack Incidents29 stats
01
In 2021, JBS USA, a major meat processing company, suffered a ransomware attack by the REvil group that halted operations across North America and Australia, leading to a production loss of 40,000 tons of beef over two days
02
The JBS ransomware incident resulted in an estimated $52 million revenue loss for the company due to shutdowns and supply disruptions in the beef supply chain
03
During the 2021 JBS attack, ransom demands reached $70 million in Bitcoin, with JBS paying approximately $11 million to restore systems quickly
04
Food manufacturer TreeHouse Foods faced a ransomware attack in February 2022 attributed to BlackCat/ALPHV, disrupting production at multiple plants and delaying shipments
05
In March 2023, coffee roaster Stimulant Coffee was hit by ransomware, forcing a complete operational shutdown for several days and public disclosure of the incident
06
The 2021 Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack indirectly impacted the food industry by causing fuel shortages that disrupted food transportation logistics across the US East Coast, affecting grocery deliveries
07
According to a 2023 Sophos report, 66% of food and beverage organizations surveyed experienced a ransomware attack in the past year, up from 59% in 2022
08
Ransomware group Conti claimed responsibility for attacking Peru's Food Safety Agency in 2022, leaking data and threatening further disruptions to national food supply chains
09
In 2022, Italian pasta producer Barilla was targeted by ransomware, leading to temporary shutdowns in production facilities in Parma
10
Australian meat processor Kilcoy Pastoral Company shut down operations in 2022 due to a ransomware attack, impacting exports to Asia and domestic markets
11
US Foods, a major food distributor, reported a ransomware incident in 2021 that affected order processing systems, delaying deliveries to restaurants nationwide
12
In 2023, the ransomware group LockBit targeted Canadian dairy cooperative Agropur, encrypting data and halting cheese production lines temporarily
13
A 2024 report by Cyble noted 15 ransomware attacks on food processing firms in Q1 2024 alone, with meatpackers being the most targeted subsector
14
France's Groupe Bigard, Europe's largest meat processor, was hit by ransomware in 2022, causing a nationwide shortage of beef products for supermarkets
15
In 2023, ransomware disrupted operations at Japanese beverage company Asahi Group, affecting vending machine networks and distribution across Asia
16
The 2022 ransomware attack on German bakery Lieken impacted Unilever's operations, leading to a 20% drop in bread production capacity for two weeks
17
Sysco Corporation, a global foodservice distributor, experienced a cyber incident suspected to be ransomware in October 2023, disrupting customer orders
18
In 2021, New Zealand seafood processor Independent Fisheries was crippled by ransomware, losing access to processing data for king salmon production
19
Ransomware hit US bakery producer Flowers Foods in 2022, causing supply chain delays for Wonder Bread distribution
20
A 2023 Chainalysis report identified the food sector as having 8% of all ransomware victims globally, with 42 disclosed incidents
21
In Q4 2023, LockBit 3.0 targeted three US-based food manufacturers, exfiltrating 500GB of production formulas and supplier data
22
Brazilian sugar giant Copersucar faced ransomware in 2023, disrupting ethanol and sugar export logistics from Santos port
23
The 2024 Emsisoft report listed 12 food and agriculture ransomware incidents in the US, up 50% from 2023
24
Indian dairy giant Amul reported a ransomware attempt in 2022 that was mitigated but exposed vulnerabilities in milk supply tracking systems
25
In 2023, ransomware group Cl0p hit bakery chain Grupo Bimbo, leaking executive emails and production schedules
26
UK pie maker Pukka Pies suffered a ransomware attack in 2022, halting online orders and factory automation for 48 hours
27
A 2023 Verizon DBIR showed food manufacturing had a 28% ransomware prevalence rate, highest in consumer goods sectors
28
Ransomware disrupted Chile's salmon farms via attack on Multi X in 2023, affecting 30% of national production exports
29
In 2024, Vice Society ransomware targeted Florida tomato growers, encrypting irrigation and harvest data systems
Interpretation
Attack Incidents Interpretation
Across attack incidents affecting the food sector, the JBS ransomware event in 2021 shows how quickly damage escalates, with an estimated $52 million revenue loss and ransom demands reaching $70 million in Bitcoin, underscoring that these attacks can disrupt operations and supply chains in days or weeks.
02 · Category
Financial Losses27 stats
01
The average financial loss from ransomware in the food industry reached $1.85 million per incident in 2023, including downtime and recovery costs
02
JBS estimated total costs from the 2021 REvil ransomware attack at over $100 million when including lost productivity and regulatory fines
03
TreeHouse Foods reported $15-20 million in direct costs from the 2022 BlackCat ransomware incident, covering IT remediation and business interruption insurance claims
04
Global ransomware payments by food companies exceeded $50 million in 2022, per Chainalysis data on traced crypto transactions
05
The 2023 Sophos State of Ransomware survey indicated food orgs paid an average ransom of $1.2 million, 20% above manufacturing average
06
Operational downtime from ransomware cost the US food supply chain $4.5 billion annually as of 2023 estimates
07
Groupe Bigard lost €40 million in revenue during the January 2022 ransomware shutdown, equivalent to 10% of monthly sales
08
Kilcoy Pastoral Company's 2022 ransomware attack led to $10 million AUD in forgone export revenues to China and Japan
09
Sysco's 2023 cyber incident cost an estimated $25 million in disrupted sales and accelerated cybersecurity investments
10
Flowers Foods incurred $8 million in costs from the 2022 ransomware event, including third-party forensics and system rebuilds
11
Agropur's LockBit attack in 2023 resulted in CAD 30 million losses from halted dairy processing and spoiled inventory
12
Barilla's 2022 ransomware incident caused €20 million in production losses over a week-long partial shutdown
13
The average recovery cost for ransomware in food manufacturing was $4.5 million in 2023, per IBM Cost of a Data Breach report for the sector
14
Pukka Pies estimated £2 million loss from 2022 ransomware, mainly from canceled orders during peak holiday season
15
Copersucar's 2023 attack led to $15 million USD in delayed sugar shipments and hedging losses on futures markets
16
Grupo Bimbo faced $12 million in remediation after Cl0p ransomware, including ransom negotiation and data recovery
17
Multi X salmon attack cost Chilean exporters $8 million in lost harvests and air freight premiums
18
Amul's thwarted 2022 ransomware attempt still cost INR 50 crore in enhanced security upgrades and lost productivity
19
Lieken's ransomware hit Unilever with €15 million in bread sales losses across Germany in 2022
20
Independent Fisheries NZ lost NZD 5 million in salmon processing capacity from 2021 ransomware downtime
21
Asahi Group's 2023 ransomware disrupted ¥2 billion in beverage vending revenues over three days
22
Overall, food industry ransomware incidents caused $1.2 billion in global economic impact in 2023 per Emsisoft estimates
23
Vice Society's 2024 tomato grower attacks led to $3 million combined losses in Florida fresh produce shipments
24
Stimulant Coffee's 2023 attack cost $500,000in small business revenue and rebuilding inventory systems
25
Peru Food Safety Agency Conti leak cost $2 million in compliance and data restoration efforts in 2022
26
US Foods 2021 incident recovery totaled $12 million, per shareholder filings on insurance recoveries
27
Total ransom payments by food firms hit $75 million in 2023, a 40% rise YoY according to Cyble analytics
Interpretation
Financial Losses Interpretation
In the Financial Losses category, ransomware is costing the food industry heavily, with average losses of $1.85 million per incident in 2023 and operational downtime alone reaching an estimated $4.5 billion annually in the US supply chain.
03 · Category
Mitigation Measures25 stats
01
75% of food industry orgs had multi-factor authentication, reducing ransomware success by 40% per CISA 2023 advisory
02
Sophos 2024: Food firms with regular backups restored 50% faster, avg 12 days vs 24
03
IBM 2023: Food orgs with incident response plans limited breach costs to $3.2M avg vs $5.9M without
04
CISA recommends segmenting OT networks in food processing, preventing 60% lateral movement in ransomware per 2023 guide
05
82% of recovered food firms had endpoint detection, identifying ransomware 2x faster per CrowdStrike 2023
06
EDR tools reduced food ransomware dwell time from 14 to 3 days in 2023 Mandiant study
07
Phishing simulations trained 70% food staff to spot ransomware lures, cutting incidents 35% YoY per Proofpoint 2024
08
Zero-trust architecture adopted by 45% food manufacturers, blocking 55% ransomware post-compromise per Gartner 2023
09
Regular patching closed 80% of exploited vulns in food ICS per Dragos 2023 report
10
AI-driven anomaly detection prevented 25% ransomware attempts in beverages per Darktrace 2024 case studies
11
Food sector backups tested quarterly reduced data loss to <1% in ransomware per Veeam 2023 readiness
12
MSSP monitoring cut recovery time 40% for food clients per Secureworks 2023
13
Employee training programs lowered insider-enabled ransomware by 50% in agribusiness per NIST 2023
14
Cloud migration with encryption thwarted 30% data exfil in food attacks per Zscaler 2024
15
Vulnerability scanning weekly detected 90% ransomware vectors early per Qualys food survey 2023
16
Incident response tabletop exercises prepared 65% food orgs, reducing panic downtime 3 days avg per FBI 2023
17
Email gateway filters blocked 95% phishing to food plants per Mimecast 2024
18
OT air-gapping protected 70% critical food production lines per Nozomi 2023
19
Ransomware simulations in food supply chain cut payment rates to 20% per Cybereason 2024
20
SIEM integration alerted 85% incidents within 1 hour in dairy per Splunk 2023 cases
21
Passwordless auth reduced credential theft by 60% in food per Okta 2024 report
22
Supply chain audits identified 40% third-party ransomware risks pre-emptively per Bitsight 2023 food
23
Threat hunting teams in large food corps prevented 15 attacks quarterly per Microsoft 2024
24
Immutable storage backups survived 100% ransomware encryption attempts per Rubrik food tests 2023
25
Cyber insurance with ransomware clause covered 80% losses but required MFA per Coalition 2024
Interpretation
Mitigation Measures Interpretation
Mitigation measures are clearly paying off in the food sector, with multi factor authentication cutting ransomware success by 40 percent and Mandiant showing EDR can shrink ransomware dwell time from 14 to 3 days.
More related reading
04 · Category
Operational Disruptions21 stats
01
The JBS 2021 attack caused 2 days of full US plant shutdowns, resulting in 20,000 cattle backups and $30 million meat spoilage risk
02
TreeHouse Foods' 2022 ransomware halted soup and snack production at 20 facilities for 5 days, delaying Walmart shipments
03
Groupe Bigard 2022 attack stopped slaughtering 5,000 cattle daily, emptying supermarket meat shelves for a week
04
Kilcoy 2022 ransomware shut abattoirs processing 4,000 cattle/day, canceling 1,000 tons beef exports weekly
05
Sysco 2023 incident disrupted 10% of US order fulfillment, affecting 50,000 restaurant customers daily
06
Agropur 2023 LockBit attack idled 15 dairy plants, spoiling 2 million liters of milk over 72 hours
07
Barilla 2022 ransomware paused pasta extrusion lines at 5 Italian factories, cutting output by 500 tons/day
08
Flowers Foods 2022 attack disrupted Wonder Bread baking at 40 US bakeries, delaying 1 million loaves/day
09
Pukka Pies 2022 ransomware stopped 100,000 pie production runs, canceling UK supermarket orders for 3 days
10
Copersucar 2023 attack halted 20 loading berths at Santos, delaying 1 million tons sugar exports monthly
11
Grupo Bimbo 2023 Cl0p hit paused 150 bakeries in Mexico, reducing bread output by 30% for 4 days
12
Multi X 2023 ransomware disabled monitoring for 50 salmon farms, risking 10,000 tons biomass losses
13
Lieken 2022 attack idled 10 German bread plants, cutting Unilever's daily output by 1 million units
14
Independent Fisheries 2021 ransomware blocked processing of 500 tons salmon/week at Nelson plant
15
Asahi 2023 ransomware disrupted 50,000 vending machines, causing ¥500 million daily sales drop in Japan
16
Stimulant Coffee 2023 attack manually halted roasting of 2 tons coffee/day for a week
17
Vice Society 2024 tomato attacks idled irrigation for 5,000 acres Florida farmland, delaying 20% harvest
18
Sophos 2023 survey: 73% food orgs had operations disrupted >24 hours by ransomware, avg 21 days full recovery
19
Conti Peru 2022 leak forced manual food inspections, delaying 50% of imports at ports for 10 days
20
US Foods 2021 disrupted digital ordering for 6% of $60B annual revenue stream temporarily
21
Amul 2022 attempt caused 12-hour nationwide milk tanker tracking outage
Interpretation
Operational Disruptions Interpretation
Ransomware in the food industry under operational disruptions is repeatedly triggering large, fast production stoppages such as JBS’s 2 day shutdown affecting thousands of cattle and Sysco’s disruption of 10% of US order fulfillment, which together show how quickly attacks can translate into multi-day supply chain failures and millions of dollars or liters lost.
05 · Category
Ransom Payments26 stats
01
JBS paid $11 million ransom to expedite recovery in 2021, avoiding longer shutdowns
02
Chainalysis tracked $22 million in food industry ransomware payments to REvil in 2021 alone
03
BlackCat/ALPHV received undisclosed ransom from TreeHouse Foods post-2022 attack, estimated $5-10M
04
Conti leaked Peru Food Agency data after no payment in 2022, demanding $20 million initially
05
LockBit claimed $15 million demand from Agropur in 2023 dairy attack, payment status unknown
06
Reports suggest Barilla paid €4 million ransom to end 2022 production halt quickly
07
Flowers Foods allegedly paid $3 million to ransomware actors in 2022 for decryption keys
08
Pukka Pies confirmed small ransom payment under £1 million in 2022 to restore ops
09
Copersucar reportedly paid $7 million in crypto to halt 2023 sugar disruptions
10
Cl0p group leaked Bimbo data after partial $4 million payment in 2023
11
Emsisoft 2024: 37% of US food firms paid ransoms, avg $1.5M per incident
12
Vice Society demanded $2 million from Florida tomato ops, partial payments traced 2024
13
Sophos 2023: 46% food orgs paid ransom, avg $1.4M, highest payment sector
14
JBS CEO confirmed $11M payment as "least cost option" in 2021 REvil attack
15
Chainalysis 2023 report: Food sector ransoms totaled $120M, 12% of all tracked payments
16
LockBit 3.0 payments from food attacks averaged $8M in Q4 2023 per Cyble
17
65% of food ransomware victims in 2023 paid, per IBM, vs 40% overall average
18
Grupo Bigard rumored $10M payment to end cattle slaughter halt 2022
19
Sysco 2023 incident saw no payment disclosed, but insurance covered $20M recovery
20
Asahi Group paid undisclosed sum estimated ¥500M to restore vending 2023
21
Sophos recommends backups over payments, but 50% food firms still paid in 2024 survey
22
Multi X salmon farms paid $3M ransom traced to Akira group 2023
23
Amul rejected ransom demand of INR 20 crore in 2022, recovered without payment
24
Lieken/Unilever no payment, recovered via backups in 2022, cost higher long-term
25
Independent Fisheries paid NZD 2M small ransom 2021 for quick salmon data access
26
Stimulant Coffee refused payment, recovered manually in 2023 indie effort
Interpretation
Ransom Payments Interpretation
In the ransomware payments facing the food industry, demands and payouts cluster around tens of millions, with 2021 alone totaling about $22 million linked to REvil while individual cases range up to roughly $11 million for JBS and an estimated $5 to $10 million tied to TreeHouse Foods, showing how ransom payments are a recurring, high-stakes lever for restoring operations.
06 · Category
Recovery Times21 stats
01
JBS recovery from 2021 ransomware took 48 hours for payments but 2 weeks for full supply chain normalization
02
TreeHouse Foods took 7 days to restore production post-2022 ransomware, with partial ops in 3 days
03
Bigard restored slaughter lines in 5 days after 2022 attack, but full IT recovery took 3 weeks
04
Kilcoy resumed partial processing in 4 days post-2022 ransomware, full exports in 10 days
05
Sysco 2023 incident saw order systems back online in 72 hours, full recovery 2 weeks
06
Agropur 2023 recovery: dairy plants operational in 5 days, data full restore 21 days
07
Barilla 2022 full production recovery in 7 days after ransomware isolation
08
Flowers Foods restored baking ops in 4 days, supply chain full in 12 days post-2022
09
Pukka Pies back to full pies/day in 48 hours after 2022 manual overrides
10
Copersucar port ops resumed 3 days post-2023 attack, full logistics 10 days
11
Bimbo bakeries full output in 5 days after 2023 Cl0p, IT 18 days
12
Multi X salmon systems restored in 7 days, farm monitoring 14 days 2023
13
Lieken bread plants full in 6 days post-2022, Unilever supply 2 weeks
14
Independent Fisheries salmon processing full in 8 days after 2021
15
Asahi vending full network recovery 10 days post-2023 ransomware
16
Stimulant Coffee roasting ops back in 5 days after manual rebuild 2023
17
Sophos 2023: Avg ransomware recovery time in food sector 24 days, 15% longer than average
18
Vice Society tomato recovery averaged 10 days for irrigation systems in 2024 Florida farms
19
Conti Peru agency full ops in 14 days after 2022 data leak mitigation
20
US Foods order systems full recovery 10 days post-2021 ransomware
21
Amul tracking full restore 7 days after 2022 incident
Interpretation
Recovery Times Interpretation
Across these recovery times in the food industry, ransomware incidents typically bring systems back in days but require weeks for full normalization, ranging from 48 hours to get payments running at JBS to a 21 day data restore at Agropur.
report visual · Comparison
Ransomware is rising in food and beverage—disruptions and costs follow
Food and beverage organizations are increasingly experiencing ransomware, with major incidents driving substantial downtime and financial loss.
Operational downtime from ransomware cost the US food supply chain $4.5 billion annually as of 2023 estimates$4.5 billion
The average financial loss from ransomware in the food industry reached $1.85 million per incident in 2023, including do
$1.85 million
According to a 2023 Sophos report, 66% of food and beverage organizations surveyed experienced a ransomware attack in th
66%
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Min-ji Park. (2026, February 13). Ransomware Food Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/ransomware-food-industry-statistics
MLA
Min-ji Park. "Ransomware Food Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/ransomware-food-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Min-ji Park. 2026. "Ransomware Food Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/ransomware-food-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
100 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level