• Hope and Sesame® Sesamemilk in bilingual packaging is now available to Canadian customers in four flavors, including award-winning Barista Blend, at Amazon.ca
• In Quebec, Marches TAU, Avril Natural Market, and other retailers have added Hope and Sesame® Sesamemilk to their stores, increasing Canadian Hope and Sesame® distribution by 23 locations and 113 Total Distribution Points ("TDP")
• In Ontario, Ambrosia Natural Foods, Marcheleo's, Nature's Emporium, and other retailers have added Hope and Sesame® to 36 locations, an increase of 180 TDP
• In British Columbia, Pomme Natural Markets, Roots Natural, and other retailers have added Hope and Sesame® to 10 locations, an increase of 26 TDP
• Planting Hope will be participating in the Canaccord Genuity AgriFood Tech Innovation Virtual Forum on December 1, 2022

CHICAGO, IL and VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 23, 2022 / The Planting Hope Company Inc. (TSXV:MYLK)(OTCQB:MYLKF)(FRA:J94) ("Planting Hope" or the "Company"), a plant-based food and beverage company focused on producing the world's most nutritious and planet-friendly products, is pleased to announce that Hope and Sesame® Sesamemilk is now available to Canadian customers in top natural grocery stores throughout Canada, as well as to customers nationwide through Amazon.ca.

"We're thrilled to expand the availability of Hope and Sesame® Sesamemilk to customers across Canada through both ecommerce and leading natural grocers," said Julia Stamberger, CEO and Co-founder of Planting Hope. "The leading online retailer in Canada, Amazon.ca, offers fast shipping across Canada and access to four Hope and Sesame® Sesamemilk flavors. It's exciting to see our bilingual Canadian packaging gain such rapid traction from prominent Canadian retailers. The Canadian population is roughly 10% of the size of the US, but the Canadian plant-based milk market is 20% of the size of the US market, representing CAD $600M in the grocery sector alone, and demonstrating a relatively broader embrace of plant-based products across Canadian consumers. Per a study from Plant Based Foods Association Canada,⁽¹⁾ 80% of Canadians eat plant-based foods as a regular part of their diet and 67% say they consume plant-based foods ‘frequently'."

Hope and Sesame® Adds Distribution Throughout Canada, Including Key Natural Retailers in Quebec, British Columbia, and Ontario

The following grocery stores are now stocking Hope and Sesame® in bilingual shelf-stable packaging across Canada, adding 69 new doors and 319 TDP to the Canadian distribution for Hope and Sesame® Sesamemilk:

• Ontario: 36 stores, 180 TDP
  • Ambrosia Natural Foods, Battaglia's, Bibi's, Cabbagetown Organics, EOL Naturals, Farm Boy, Fiesta Farms, Foodland, Foods For Life, Harmony Whole Foods, Herb & Spice Shops, Independent City Markets, Kelly's Nutrition Centres, Kim Natural Foods, Marcheleo's, Marilu's, Muskoka Natural Market, Naturally Bulk, Nature's Emporium, Paradise Fields, Pure Vida, The Big Carrot, Truly Healthy Nutrition, Tutti Frutti, and Yummy Market
• British Columbia: 10 stores, 26 TDP
  • Pomme Natural Markets, Roots Natural, Country Grocer, The Market on Millstream, Vegan Supply, Victoria Urban Grocer, Lifeplus Natural Health, Norman's Grocery and Templeton Market
• Quebec: 23 stores, 113 TDP
  • A Fleur De Vie, Aliment Fleur Sauvage, Aliments True Health, Avril, Epicerie Segal, Hanna's Hut, Supermarche Pagano, La Branche D'Olivier, La Moisson, Metro Plus Fournier, Supermarche Marquis Repentigny, Mission Sante, Rachelle Bery, Supermarche La Main, Tau Markets, Vrac Du Marche, and Young Brothers

Hope and Sesame® Canadian bilingual packaging display at Supermarche Pagano, Montreal.

Planting Hope to Present at Canaccord Genuity AgriFood Tech Innovation Virtual Forum

Planting Hope will be participating in the Canaccord Genuity AgriFood Tech Innovation Virtual Forum on Thursday, December 1, 2022. Ms. Stamberger will be hosting a live presentation via webcast at 10:30 AM ET that day.

To register for the webcast, please click here: https://wsw.com/webcast/canaccord81/plhp/2463500

A recording of the presentation will be available on the Company's website after the conference.

Citations

1. https://www.plantbasedfoodscanada.ca/retail-sales-research#:~:text=Eight%2Din%2Dten%20(80,ingredients%20or%20c)%20nutrition%20facts

About Hope and Sesame®
Hope and Sesame® has cracked the code on unlocking the dense nutrition in tiny sesame seeds to create a plant milk that's good-for-you, planet-friendly, and delicious! Sesame is highly sustainable, thriving with little water in arid climates, is naturally drought- and pest-resistant, and can self-pollinate. Nutritionally comparable to dairy milk, Hope and Sesame® Sesamemilk delivers 9g of complete protein per serving (including all nine essential amino acids) - that's 9x the protein in most almond and nut milks and 3x the protein in most oat milks! Developed for and approved by top baristas, Hope and Sesame® Barista Blend Sesamemilk froths, steams, and foams like a dream, is great for latte art, and delivers 4g of complete protein per serving. Sesamemilk's core ingredient is the ultra-nutritious pulp upcycled from sesame oil extraction. All Hope and Sesame® products are vegan, Certified Gluten-Free and Certified Kosher, free from soy and dairy, Non-GMO Project Verified, and Certified by the Plant Based Foods Association. Hope and Sesame® Sesamemilk is available in both refrigerated 48oz bottles (three flavors) as well as shelf-stable long-life recyclable aseptic cartons (seven flavors, including Barista Blend) in both US and Canadian bilingual packaging.

Hope and Sesame®'s products have received myriad industry and consumer awards, and they keep coming: Hope and Sesame® Barista Blend Sesamemilk was awarded Best Novel Creamer by Good Housekeeping in their 2022 Best Coffee Awards, won Best Product at Coffee Fest Chicago 2022, received the international GAMA 2022 Innovation Award for Best Hospitality Product, and was a finalist for Best Product of the Year at the 2022 Specialty Coffee Awards; Hope and Sesame® Sesamemilk was awarded Best Milk Alternative and Best Plant-Based Sustainability in FoodBev's 2021 World Plant-Based Food Awards; signature Chocolate Hazelnut Sesamemilk flavor received the 2020 Sofi Award for Best New Product, Plant-Based Milk from the Specialty Food Association.

About The Planting Hope Company Inc.
Planting Hope develops, launches, and scales uniquely innovative plant-based and planet-friendly food and beverage brands. Planting Hope's award-winning and cutting-edge products fill key unmet needs in the skyrocketing plant-based food and beverage space. The Planting Hope brand family includes Hope and Sesame® Sesamemilk, Barista Blend Sesamemilk, and Sesamilk™ creamers, RightRice® Veggie Rice, Mozaics™ Real Veggie Chips, and Veggicopia® Veggie Snacks. Products from Planting Hope brands are available in more than 9,000 doors and more than 50,000 total distribution points at grocery retailers throughout North America, and are carried by key distributors to grocery, foodservice, and cafés. Founded by experienced food industry entrepreneurs, Planting Hope is a women-managed and woman-led company focused on nutrition, sustainability, and diversity.

For more information about Planting Hope and where to find its award-winning plant-based brands please visit plantinghopecompany.com, sign up for Planting Hope news emails HERE and follow on LinkedIn. An informational webinar on The Planting Hope Company from CEO and Co-founder Julia Stamberger is available HERE. To follow the brands on Instagram and Facebook, please visit: @hopeandsesameco, @veggicopia, @rightrice, @mozaicschips.

Contacts

Company Contact:
Julia Stamberger
CEO and Co-founder
(773) 492-2243
julia@plantinghopecompany.com

Investor Relations Contacts:
Glen Akselrod, Bristol Capital
(905) 326-1888 ext. 1
glen@bristolir.com

Caroline Sawamoto, IR Labs
(773) 492-2243
ir@plantinghopecompany.com

Media Contact:
Alex Jessup, Jessup PR
(323) 529-3541
alex.jessup@jessuppr.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively referred to hereafter as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements that address activities, events, or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will, or may, occur in the future, including statements about the Company's ability to execute on its goals, the timing pertaining to these goals the potential demand for the Company's products, the timing and success of anticipated product launches and distribution of the Company's products, and the Company's business prospects, future trends, plans and strategies. In some cases, forward looking statements are preceded by, followed by, or include words such as "may", "will," "would", "could", "should", "believes", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "continues", or the negative of those words or other similar or comparable words. In preparing the forward looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, the assumption that demand for the Company's product will be sustained or increase in accordance with management's projections, that the Company's internal research and analysis is indicative of broader market trends and the Company's anticipated future demand for its products, that changes in consumer preferences in the plant-based food industry will continue in accordance with the Company's expectations, that the Company's current business objectives can be achieved and that its other corporate activities will proceed as expected, and that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner. Although the management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any forward-looking statement herein will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. Risks and uncertainties applicable to the Company, as well as trends identified by the Company affecting its industry can be found in the Company's annual information form dated January 6, 2022 and the Company's continuous disclosure record available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Such cautionary statements qualify all forward-looking statements made in this news release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

SOURCE: The Planting Hope Company Inc.