Fairlife Halts U.S. Operations After Ransomware Attack Compromises Production Systems

Fairlife, the milk producer owned by Coca-Cola and based in Chicago, has temporarily halted all manufacturing across the United States following a ransomware cyberattack. The company announced the security breach on Thursday after determining that unauthorized individuals had infiltrated critical components of its production infrastructure.

The company produces ultra-filtered milk and Core Power protein beverages, which generate approximately $3 billion annually in U.S. retail sales. Despite assurances that product safety has not been compromised, Fairlife acknowledged that investigators have yet to fully understand the scope and consequences of the breach.

Fairlife issued a statement saying the “full scope, nature and impacts of the incident are not yet known.” Manufacturing at its Canadian facilities continues uninterrupted as the company pursues its investigation.

The company has engaged cybersecurity specialists to examine the breach and has reported the incident to law enforcement agencies. Restoration efforts are underway to bring systems back online and resume full operations.

As of Friday afternoon, neither Fairlife nor parent company Coca-Cola had provided a timeline for returning U.S. production to normal capacity or disclosed specific remediation measures.

Fairlife was founded in 2012 and integrated into Coca-Cola’s portfolio in 2022. The company operates its headquarters in Chicago’s West Loop and maintains production facilities in Michigan, Arizona, New York, and New Mexico.

The attack adds to a growing list of cybersecurity incidents affecting the Chicago region. Evanston Township High School fell victim to ransomware in June that disrupted summer programming, while a May attack on Canvas educational software forced the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to reschedule final exams and affected numerous Illinois schools.