LYNNFIELD — Schools and grocery stores across New England might experience a shortage in milk products after a “cyber-security event” prompted Lynnfield-based H.P. Hood Dairy to shut down its plants earlier this week.
Hood is the largest producer of milk in eight-ounce packaging in the region. The eight-ounce milk carton is the standard for what is distributed in schools, a Hood spokesperson said.
“Earlier this week we learned that our network system was the victim of a cyber-security event,” said Hood spokesperson Lynne Bohan through LinkedIn messaging. “Our IT team and others have been working around the clock to resolve the issue, and I am happy to report that most of our plants are up and running.”
Bohan said the decision to take the company’s plants offline was made out of an “abundance of caution,” after an incident affected Hood’s IT systems last week.
While its operations were closed, the company was unable to produce products or receive raw materials. Some milk that was delivered to Hood plants had to be wasted, due to the shutdown.
Hood is working on restoring its cyber-security system, and that might cause delays for its customers. Hood’s administration asked employees not to use company equipment while the issue remained unresolved. Bohan said this measure was also taken for cautionary reasons.
Schools might experience problems with milk supplies as a result of the closures. Some food vendors have already notified their schools that Hood Dairy has temporarily shut down its operations.
The Contoocook Valley School District in New Hampshire said its food vendor, Fresh Picks Cafe, notified the district on Tuesday of a “significant cyber hack” against Hood, the Boston Globe reported.
For now, the schools still have some supplies of milk. However, Contoocook Valley requested a waiver from the state in case it fails to obtain fresh milk to meet U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines for what counts as a reimbursable school lunch. The schools might offer water or juice as milk substitutes to their students, according to a Globe report.
The company expressed its gratitude both to its employees for their hard work and resilience in working “around the clock” to get the company back to the normal mode of operations, and to the customers for their patience and understanding, Bohan said.
