CHICAGO, IL and VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 8, 2022 / The Planting Hope Company Inc. (TSXV:MYLK)(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 excited to announce that it has established the Hope and Sesame^® Barista Board ("Barista Board"), a first-of-its-kind community of baristas and coffee shop owners from across North America, with a mission to bring sustainable ideas and programs to the café industry with the motto "Do Better".

Sesame is one of the most sustainable crops on the planet, requiring very little water to cultivate, is naturally drought- and pest-resistant, and can self-pollinate. The recently launched Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend is a barista-friendly sesamemilk that tastes great, froths beautifully, and performs like a dream in both hot and iced beverages, offering 4g of complete protein per serving.

"We are creating a community that has never existed before, inviting baristas and coffee shop owners to come together to have a sustainable impact in the café industry as a whole," says Julia Stamberger, CEO and Co-founder of Planting Hope. "Everything starts from the inside, and we are proud to have invented a plant-based milk that baristas can feel good about for the body and for the planet, without sacrificing taste or quality. We are honored to work with so many talented baristas and coffee shop owners who share in our commitment to sustainability and nutrition."

Caption: Barista Board member Hyacinth Rio pours a sample of steamed Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend at Coffee Fest 2022 NYC

"When the Hope and Sesame^® team came to me and asked what we need as baristas and coffee shop owners from a milk alternative standpoint I was both intrigued and fascinated by their care for the barista community," said Jackie Nguyen, Hope and Sesame^® Brand Captain, Director of the Barista Board, and CEO and Owner of Cafe Cà Phê. "What also impressed me was Planting Hope's commitment to helping create a positive environmental impact through something we as baristas use every day - milk. Our conversations led us to the idea of an official Barista Board to generate meaningful conversations about how to make our line of work more sustainable while supporting each other in this tight-knit community. I am thrilled to be a part of this initiative and look forward to seeing our impact throughout this industry."

Today, the Barista Board consists of 11 members, each committed to serve on the board for one full year. Upon completion of the full year, the member will introduce another barista to the community and take on a mentorship role going forward. This will keep the Barista Board current with fresh new ideas and insights and will allow those newer to the industry be a part of the movement. The board members currently represent professional and at-home baristas as well as coffee shop owners. The members of the Barista Board were invited to participate in a comprehensive application process and selected specifically for their commitment to sustainability in the café industry. Over time, the size of the Barista Board will expand to span more geographical areas and further representation in the overall coffee community, including roasters. For more information about the Barista Board, including to apply for a position as a future Board member, please email Jackie Nguyen at jackie@plantinghopecompany.com.

Planting Hope has partnered with IOVIA, a female-founded accelerator that builds people-powered, sustainable brands to launch the Barista Board across the United States and Canada. Through decades of experience in crowdsourcing, brand community building, and the creator economy, IOVIA partners with clients to fundamentally transform the way brands scale through people-powered movements. IOVIA works with global brands like LEGO, IKEA, and LUSH, as well as emerging food brands to maximize their relevance, revenue, and impact in today's digital economy. IOVIA's Brand Accelerator Lab for plant-based food brands is a leading-edge growth studio to enable sustainable growth.

"IOVIA has made a long-term commitment to work with plant-based food and beverage brands that are focused on sustainability and are addressing the challenges legacy brands face today," said Rob Dawson, CEO of IOVIA. "We believe the Barista Board will not only accelerate the growth of the Hope and Sesame® brand, but also build powerful connections directly with customers, through an industry-leading creator community that will drive the brand's growth for years to come."

Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend

• 4g complete plant-based protein per serving (provides all nine essential amino acids)
• Excellent source of Calcium and a good source of Vitamin D and Phosphorus
• Vegan / Soy-Free / Dairy-Free / Gluten-Free Certified / Kosher Certified
• Froths, foams and steams like a dream, great for latte art!
• Delicious in any hot or iced drink

Sesame - One of the Most Sustainable Crops on the Planet

• Requires little water to cultivate, thrives in drought conditions
• Bee-friendly, self-pollinating
• An excellent cover crop, contributing positively to sustainable agriculture
• Sesamemilk upcycles the protein remaining after sesame seeds are pressed for oil (traditionally considered a by-product used primarily for animal feed)

About Hope and Sesame^®
Hope and Sesame^® has cracked the code on unlocking the dense nutrition in tiny sesame seeds, creating an important new trend in plant milk: sesamemilk, both ultra-nutritious and highly planet-friendly. Sesame is sustainable, requiring very little water to cultivate, is naturally drought- and pest-resistant, and can self-pollinate. Sesamemilk is nutritionally comparable to dairy milk, delivering 8g of complete protein per serving (including all nine essential amino acids) - that's 8x the protein in most nut milks and 3x the protein in most oat milks! Specifically developed for and tested by top baristas, Hope and Sesame® Barista Blend froths, steams, and foams like a dream, great for latte art, and delivers 4g of complete protein per 8 oz serving. All Hope and Sesame^® Sesamemilk products are vegan, an excellent source of vitamin D and calcium, are Certified Gluten-Free and Certified Kosher, are free from soy and dairy, and are Non-GMO Project Verified and Certified by the Plant Based Foods Association. Hope and Sesame^® was awarded Best Milk Alternative and Best Plant-Based Sustainability in FoodBev's 2021 World Plant-Based Food Awards and signature Chocolate Hazelnut 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, 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.