A nationwide egg producer will make the Tri-Cities the home for its newest hub for egg farms in the region.

Versova, doing business as Centrum Valley Farms, bought the former Reser’s Fine Foods facility at 5310 Industrial Way in Pasco in mid-November for a listed price of just under $15 million, according to Franklin County property records.

Hinda Mitchell, a Versova spokeswoman, confirmed the purchase in a statement.

“Over the next 12 to 18 months, we will be remodeling the plant to become a centralized shell egg processing facility for our farms across the Pacific Northwest,” she said.

The company has been under contract for the more than 110,000-square-foot plant since spring 2024, said Kirt Shaffer of Pasco’s Tippett Company, who served as the listing agent for the property.

Shaffer lauded local leaders and organizations such as the Tri-City Development Council (TRIDEC) for helping Versova decide to come to the Tri-Cities.

“They’re going to be a great addition to the community,” Shaffer said.

Egg processing

Versova is a holding company formed in 2016 for a group of family egg farms in Iowa and Ohio, including Centrum Valley Farms, according to the company’s website. Altogether they produce almost 8 billion eggs per year. Their products include fresh shell eggs and egg products, such as egg whites, whole eggs, frozen egg products and sugared and salted yolks.

Their eggs are sold in major retail and grocery stores nationwide, while also supplying other food processors and food service clients.

Versova moved into the Pacific Northwest market in 2021 when it acquired Willamette Egg Farms, its first owned-and-operated egg production facility outside its home states.

Shaffer said Versova has been buying egg operations across the region and plans to use the facility on Industrial Way as a nest run facility. Such facilities serve as hubs to grade, clean and package eggs for the consumer market.

“When completed, the plant will significantly expand our egg processing capacity, which will create more flexibility in serving our customers and bring greater stability to the egg supply chain,” Mitchell said. She added that decisions about when the facility will begin operations and how many staff it will employ have not been determined.

Tri-Cities advantages

Karl Dye, president and CEO of TRIDEC, said his team was excited to partner with Shaffer, Tippett Company and Reser’s to bring Versova to the Tri-Cities. They all met with Versova’s senior leadership team and shared the advantages of doing business in the Tri-Cities and Columbia Basin.

“To land a company that will have a chance to utilize some of the food production infrastructure in the Reser’s building was a great accomplishment for the entire community,” Dye said.

Reser’s built the Industrial Way plant in 1998. It includes an ambient temperature area, refrigeration area, dry storage area and shop space with mezzanine storage. The building has staff support areas with offices, conference rooms, multiple break rooms, a lunch room, laundry room and staff locker rooms.

Reser’s moved its Tri-Cities operations in the summer of 2022 after building a new facility on Capitol Avenue in Pasco that, on completion, is 340,000-square feet.