CHICAGO, IL and VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 5, 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 pleased to announce that it is continuing its expansion of Hope and Sesame® Barista Blend Sesamemilk in the café distribution channel with the addition of Vancouver-area distributor Dean's Dairy & Specialty Foods ("Dean's Dairy" or "Dean's"), and the addition of a new role on the management team, Marketing Channel Manager, Baristas & Cafés.

"Our Barista Blend was created to froth, foam, steam, and perform like a dream in hot and iced beverages, as well as to make great latte art," said Julia Stamberger, CEO and Co-founder of Planting Hope. "With a complimentary taste to espresso beverages, we're thrilled to serve independent coffee shops with a breakthrough new barista product, successfully answering the question of ‘what's next after oat milk?'. Being able to service the Vancouver market with a top café foodservice partner delivering directly to local cafés is an exciting step in bringing sesamemilk to Canada."

Planting Hope's growth and innovation continues to push boundaries and disrupt the plant-based food and beverage industry, and sesamemilk is rapidly gaining favor. In Vancouver, the first distributor to launch Hope and Sesame® Barista Blend Sesamemilk to the café channel is Dean's Dairy and Specialty Foods.

Dean's Dairy & Specialty Foods distributes premium all-natural and organic products to grocers, cafés, and eateries in Vancouver, the Lower Mainland, and Vancouver Island. Dean's is committed to bringing the best quality products to its customers, and to this day Dean personally selects each brand to ensure clients can expect top quality and consistency. Reaching more than 200+ independent coffee shops across the Lower Mainland in British Columbia, Dean's is a premium partner to cafés, supplying plant milk and dairy milk, as well as an extensive lineup of snacks and grab-and-go beverages. To contact Dean's regarding Hope and Sesame®, please reach out to curtis@deansmilkman.com.

"At Dean's, we are constantly looking for innovative products that are new to the market," said Dean Sellars, Founder and CEO at Dean's Dairy. "With the rise in plant-based milk alternatives over the past year and a focus on sustainability, we knew immediately that Hope and Sesame® was a good fit for us. The brand checks all the boxes, and we are excited to introduce Barista Blend Sesamemilk to all our Café friends."

Just Launched: Barista Blend Sesamemilk Available Here!

Joining the sesamemilk movement, the following independent coffee shops have announced they have added Hope and Sesame® Barista Blend Sesamemilk to their menus:

• Charmers Cafe (Chicago, IL)
• Common Crumb (Troy, NY)
• Greenhouse Coffee + Affogato Bar (Springfield, MO)
• Due-Back (Lavallette, NJ)

New Marketing Channel Manager - Baristas & Cafés

Courtney Benavente has joined the Planting Hope team in a newly created position to guide the rollout of Hope and Sesame® Barista Blend Sesamemilk by fully supporting cafés, distributors, and baristas while sesamemilk rapidly expands as a delicious and sustainable addition to hot and iced drinks. Courtney is responsible for managing existing and new relationships within the coffee shop distribution channel by championing the use and promotion of sesamemilk, as well as supporting the cafés adding it to their menus. Courtney has a true passion for the craft, and firsthand knowledge of the café supply chain from her positions leading independent cafés in key markets like Austin, Texas. Courtney also brings experience as a coffee roaster, time on a coffee farm in Panama, and experience establishing a new coffee program that included product development of new syrup and cold brew recipes. Her strong understanding of coffee shop owner and consumer needs, opportunities, and challenges enables a strong alignment between the Hope & Sesame® sesamemilk and creamer product lines and the café distribution channel.

Hope and Sesame® Barista Blend Sesamemilk

• 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 Sesamemilk froths, steams, and foams like a dream, great for latte art, and delivers 4g of complete protein per 8oz serving. Sesamemilk is an excellent source of Vitamin D and calcium and is upcycled from the byproduct of sesame oil extraction. Hope and Sesame® Sesamilk™ creamers are free from saturated fat and only 40 calories per serving. 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® was awarded Best Milk Alternative and Best Plant-Based Sustainability in FoodBev's 2021 World Plant-Based Food Awards, Barista Blend was a finalist for Best Product of the Year at the 2022 Specialty Coffee 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 and Sesamilk™ creamers, 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 focused 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 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.