Hidden Villa Ranch, Fullerton, Calif., is adding 600,000 birds over the next year for production across the country to avoid shorting on specialty cage-free, free-range, non-GMO, organic and pasture-raised eggs.

Hidden Villa Ranch, which acquired Soncrest Egg Farm, Harwood, Texas, adding 300,000 birds to its production capabilities, plans tobuild 25-30 laying hen barns on 15 different farms in at least eight different states. The initial family farms for the expansion project are located in California, Colorado, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin.

"We see incredible up trends in the specialty egg industry, and we are gearing up to fill that consumer demand," says Jasen Urena, director of specialty eggs. "By adding more production, our retailers will not need to worry about egg shorting in their specialty egg sections. We will have a dedicated supply with no interruptions."

Hidden Villa Ranch sells eggs under the Horizon Organic Eggs, The Country Hen and NestFresh brands.