The hack took place last Monday and took down the order system, forcing the company to return to pen and paper to process orders and regulate stocks, the Telegraaf reported.

Director Toon Verhoeven told the paper the company had been attacked by ransomware but declined to give any further details.

‘We could not accept orders and we did not know where in our warehouses particular products were,’ Verhoeven told broadcaster NOS. ‘Nor could we plan deliveries because we have hundreds of lorries and that cannot be done by hand.’

‘We are now talking to our customers about how we can start up again,’ Verhoeven said.

The problem centred on prepacked grated and sliced cheese, the Telegraaf said.

Bakker Logistiek has six warehouses throughout the Netherlands and supplies many other supermarkets as well as Albert Heijn with cheese and other savoury products for on bread.

Most of them, however, have not be seriously affected because they have their own intermediary storage centres.

In 2015, the Netherlands was hit by a spate of cheese thefts from dairy farms. In total 8,500 kilos, with a value of €90,000, was stolen.