Coca-Cola said on Monday that it has resumed most production at four US Fairlife dairy facilities following a ransomware attack earlier this month, easing concerns over supply disruption ahead of the drinks group's quarterly earnings.

The company said it had made "significant progress" in restoring operations after disclosing on 16 July that an unauthorised third party had gained access to parts of Fairlife's systems, forcing a temporary halt to production at its US plants. Coca-Cola said retail availability had been "largely unimpacted" because of existing inventory and repeated that product quality and safety had not been affected. The company added that it did not expect the incident to have a material impact on its financial condition or operating results.

Reuters reported that Coca-Cola has been working with external cybersecurity experts as part of its investigation while restoring affected systems. The company said hackers had obtained "certain data" during the attack and that work to fully restore production was continuing. Coca-Cola is due to report second-quarter earnings on Tuesday.

Coca-Cola acquired Fairlife from Select Milk Producers in 2020 in a deal worth roughly $7 billion. The Chicago-based dairy business generates more than $3 billion in annual sales and produces ultra-filtered milk, protein shakes and nutrition drinks sold across the United States.

According to cybersecurity publication BleepingComputer, the Anubis ransomware group has claimed responsibility for the attack, alleging it stole approximately one terabyte of corporate data and encrypted Fairlife's Nutanix infrastructure. The publication said it could not independently verify those claims, and Coca-Cola declined to comment on the group's allegations.

The attack adds to a growing number of cyber incidents affecting manufacturers and consumer goods companies, where ransomware attacks have disrupted production and exposed sensitive data. Fairlife's temporary shutdown reflected the operational risks such attacks can pose even when companies maintain inventory levels sufficient to avoid immediate shortages on retailers' shelves.

In Monday's update, Coca-Cola said it had "resumed the majority of production" and that "retail availability of Fairlife products has been largely unimpacted, due to the availability of existing inventory". The company added that "product quality and safety have not been impacted".

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