CHICAGO, IL and VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2022 / The Planting Hope Company Inc. (TSX.V:MYLK)(FRA:J94) ("Planting Hope" or the "Company"), a plant-based food and beverage company focused on producing nutritious and planet-friendly products, is pleased to announce the launch of two new flavorful, on-trend additions to the RightRice® family: Mediterranean RightRice® and Roasted Garlic RightRice® Risotto. Made with herbs and spices, Mediterranean RightRice® brings together the bright flavors of thyme, basil, and lemon, while Roasted Garlic RightRice® Risotto delivers the slightly sweet flavor of caramelized garlic blended with aromatic spices.

The two new RightRice® flavors are debuting at all Whole Foods Market stores nationwide across the United States and will be on shelves by early March. These flavors will be added to the Whole Foods Market RightRice® lineup, which currently includes four RightRice® pre-seasoned flavors (Original, Garlic Herb, Spanish, and Cilantro Lime) and three RightRice® Risotto flavors (Creamy Parmesan, Wild Mushroom, and Basil Pesto), for a total of nine shelf-facing flavors in the Rice category. Mediterranean RightRice® and Roasted Garlic RightRice® Risotto will be replacing Thai Curry RightRice® and Creamy Cracked Pepper RightRice® Risotto, respectively.

"We are thrilled to expand our nutritious and delicious RightRice® product line with two new on-trend flavors, Mediterranean RightRice® and Roasted Garlic RightRice® Risotto, delivering on customer and retailer demand," said Julia Stamberger, CEO and Co-founder of Planting Hope. "We are excited to debut these new flavors with Whole Foods Market, with distribution to all major cities and markets across the United States. We believe Whole Foods Market is highly influential in both the natural channel and the food industry at large and has been a great collaborator with RightRice® since its exclusive debut with Whole Foods Market in 2019. We appreciate Whole Foods Market's ongoing support of the RightRice® brand and the positive response to RightRice® from Whole Foods Market's customers."

"Whole Foods Market is committed to introducing products that tap into current food trends and bring in new culinary experiences to our customers," said AnaMaria Friede, Executive Leader of Grocery for Whole Foods Market. "RightRice® fits in with the ‘reducetarianism' trend, where customers are reducing consumption of meat, dairy, and eggs without cutting them out completely; and the new RightRice® products provide a great choice of complete plant-based protein while delivering on delicious taste."

RightRice® and RightRice® Risotto

• 10 grams of complete, plant-based protein
• 5 grams of fiber
• Almost 40% less net carbohydrates than a bowl of white rice
• Vegan
• Non-GMO Project Verified
• Certified Gluten-Free
• Certified Kosher
• Simple ingredients: lentils, chickpeas, peas, rice, and seasoning

About RightRice®
RightRice® redefines a household staple with a delicious vegetable-based rice grain that's packed with the power of vegetables and complete plant-based protein. RightRice® is the first-of-its-kind: a shelf-stable vegetable grain that's a blend of over 90 percent vegetables, including lentils, chickpeas, green peas, and rice, and delivers on both taste and nutrition. With 10g of complete protein and 5g of fiber per serving, RightRice® delivers more than double the protein, five times the fiber, and around 40 percent fewer net carbohydrates than traditional white rice, plus it can be prepared in about 10 minutes. RightRice® is now available in a range of pre-seasoned flavors, plus multiple flavors of RightRice® Medley and RightRice® Risotto. RightRice® products are currently sold in more than 7,000 doors in leading retailers across North America, including Whole Foods Market, Wegman's, Kroger, Sprouts, Albertsons/Safeway, HEB, Ahold, and Meijer, as well as online through Amazon, Thrive Market, Hive, and RightRice.com. All RightRice® products are made using real herbs and spices, and are plant-based, Non-GMO Project Verified, certified gluten-free and certified kosher. RightRice® continues to receive awards and acclaim since its launch in 2019, including People Magazine's Best Plant-Based Food Award, NOSH's Best New Product, and Sunset Magazine's 2021 Pantry Award, in addition to being highlighted as the Best Alt Grain Grocery Store Swap by goop. RightRice® Risotto was awarded Best Sauce/Store Cupboard Product in FoodBev's 2021 World Plant-Based Taste Awards and received the 2021 Eco Excellence Award for Best Gluten Free Product, in addition to being chosen as a 2021 Editors' Pick for Best New Product by Progressive Grocer. For more information visit: www.rightrice.com.

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, RightRice® Veggie Rice, Mozaics™ Real Veggie Chips, and Veggicopia® Veggie Snacks. Founded by experienced food industry entrepreneurs, Planting Hope is a women-managed and woman-led company with a focus on nutrition, sustainability, and diversity. For more information visit: www.plantinghopecompany.com.

Contacts

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

Media Contact:
Rachel Kay Public Relations
Becca Stonebraker
(818) 383-3929
becca@rkpr.net

Investor Relations Contact:
Caroline Sawamoto
Investor Relations
(773) 492-2243
ir@plantinghopecompany.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 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.