‘Perfect storm’ of problems caused fresh food shortage

A ‘perfect storm’ of problems contributed to a shortage of fresh food in Cayman over the busiest period of the year, an industry chief said.

Woody Foster, managing director of supermarket chain Foster’s, said a cyber attack which affected Florida-based shipping companies that do business with Cayman did have an impact.

But he added the main cause was a ship breakdown in Miami and a lack of air capacity to Cayman to make up the shortfall because of the holiday rush.

Foster said, “The cyber attack was not the cause of the produce and other ‘out of stock’ issues but it did slightly contribute to it.

“Basically, it our busiest time of the year, so heavy sales, but there was a mechanical failure with the boat leaving Miami and we were unable to get in any additional product by air because the inward flights were fully booked with incoming travellers.

“So it was basically a perfect storm to remind us that we live on an island.”

Normality resumed

But Foster said the problem had been tackled and deliveries were back to normal.

He added, “Ships are moving and shelves are being restocked – we had a blip, but it is being addressed.”

Shoppers noticed a shortage of fresh fruit and vegetables over the period in some supermarkets, although they could be found elsewhere.

Foster said, “Most of the other shortages are simply the difficulties of getting the orders right over the busy Christmas season so really the only big issue was produce.”

Supermarket group Kirk Market declined to comment.

Port response

Cayman’s Port Authority said the cyber attack on shipping companies was a first for Cayman because of its size, but the service had risen to the challenge.

Fitzroy Robinson, a port supervisor, added, “Something of this magnitude hasn’t happened before, to our knowledge, but we handled it well.

“We jumped on it headfirst and we managed to keep a continuous flow of cargo by working overtime throughout the Christmas season.”

He added, “As a team effort, we all did well. It’s just for the customers to come and collect the goods.”

He added that the billing team had worked “countless hours” to make sure that all information that had to be entered manually was handled.

Robinson said, “As a port, we are good, we are ready, we’re waiting to serve.”

Cyber attacks increase over holidays

Cyber attacks are known to jump by up to 30% over peak holiday periods and during weekends.

Businesses are often less prepared, have fewer staff, or sometimes none, to monitor critical systems and data, or even just let their guard down to potential threats which gives cyber attackers more opportunities to wreak havoc.