Coca-Cola suspends U.S. production of billion-dollar brand after cyberattack

Coca-Cola said its Fairlife dairy brand has halted all U.S. production lines after a ransomware attack. The company disclosed the cyberattack in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The incident affected Fairlife's technological systems and forced a temporary stoppage at U.S. factories. Coca-Cola management has not disclosed a specific timeline for resuming production. The company said Canadian divisions continue to operate normally. Coca-Cola is working with law enforcement and cybersecurity experts to restore systems. No details have been provided regarding any demands made by the hacker group. Fairlife is one of the fastest-growing segments in the Coca-Cola portfolio with expected 2024 sales volume of $4 billion. The production halt could lead to financial losses and product shortages in retail chains. Previous cyberattacks on food and beverage companies such as Arizona Beverages in 2019 and UNFI last year took several weeks to resolve. Experts note that fully digitized modern production processes are vulnerable to paralysis if hackers gain system access.