News

• Distribution increases with more regional foodservice distributors and independent cafés adding sesamemilk
• Significant press coverage of sesamemilk as the next new trend in plant-based milks published by The Washington Post, Good Morning America, Thrillist, Consumer Reports, and more
• Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend Sesamemilk announced as finalist in World Plant-Based Beverage awards
• New dual language packaging for top Hope and Sesame^® shelf-stable SKUs, including Barista Blend, now available in Canada

CHICAGO, IL and VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 16, 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 report ongoing momentum and growth for its Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend Sesamemilk. The product has been gaining new distribution across the United States and Canada with notable retailers, coffee shops, and national media calling sesamemilk the next big trend to watch for in the multi-billion-dollar plant-based milk category.

“People are catching on to sesamemilk,” said Julia Stamberger, CEO and Co-founder of Planting Hope. “Consumers deserve a delicious milk alternative that is not only better for their health but also good for the planet. As a tasty, nutritious, and eco-friendly option, we believe our sesamemilk is the next big chapter in the plant-based milk story and it’s incredibly rewarding to see that vision come to reality through the adoption of distribution partners, cafés, retailers, national media, and consumers. We’re excited about this continued momentum.”

Distribution Expansion: New Regional Distribution, Cafés

Hope and Sesame^® has partnered with Metropolis Coffee, a top coffee roaster in Illinois, to both distribute Hope and Sesame^® sesamemilk to the cafés it services with Metropolis award-winning coffee beans, as well as to feature sesamemilk at Metropolis’ flagship café in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood.

“Metropolis Coffee is proud to distribute Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend Sesamemilk to its cafes and cafe partners,” said Anne Djerai, Executive Vice President of Metropolis Coffee. “There are many alternative milk products on the market but Hope and Sesame^® has the special sauce. Not only is their product fantastic, but Planting Hope’s team is accessible, helpful, and collaborative. We have a true partner and are excited to be part of the momentum.”

Aiyaohno Café in Vancouver, Canada, which added Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend sesamemilk to their café earlier this summer, has had great experiences introducing sesamemilk to their customers.

“We love the sesamemilk from Hope and Sesame^®,” said Bev Tsang, owner, Aiyaohno Café. “I tell [customers] it’s like a hybrid between oat and soy with balanced creaminess. People that order it once usually come back for more. Besides whole milk, we only carry oat milk and now sesamemilk. We love the packaging and the fact that it’s [from a] women-led company.”

Other new cafes that have added sesamemilk to their menus this summer include:

• Canal Street Market, New York, NY
• Infusco Coffee Roasters, Sawyer, MI
• Wild Honeysuckle, Long Branch, NJ
• Redbird Café, Homewood, IL
• Sullivan Brothers Coffee Company, Uniontown, PA
• Sister Ship Coffee, Nantucket, MA
• Sweet Maresa’s, Kingston, NY
• Ghostlight Coffee, Dayton, OH
• The Chocolate Dragon Bittersweet Café & Bakery, Oakland, CA
• Picacho Coffee Roasters, Las Cruces, NM

Recent Coffee Industry Events

Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend Sesamemilk proudly participated in the recent NYC Ube Festival, held August 12-14th, celebrating the super-nutritious and brilliantly colored Ube ‘magical purple yam’. Hope and Sesame^® partnered with Canal Street Market to offer attendees Ube-Sesamemilk lattes, made with fresh Ube. The event was attended by more than 6,000 people and featured around the block lines; Barista Blend Sesamemilk sold out well before the event ended.

Hope and Sesame^® sesamemilk will also be showcased at CoffeeFest LA, held August 28-30th at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Booth #1709. This is the third regional CoffeeFest that Hope and Sesame^® has attended in 2022 and Barista Blend was recognized as Best Product at CoffeeFest Chicago earlier this summer.

Notable Award Recognition

On Friday, Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend Sesamemilk was announced as a finalist by FoodBev Media for their annual World Plant-based Awards 2022 in the ‘Best plant-based beverage’ category. The winners will be announced at the Javits Center in New York City in association with Plant Based World Expo North America on September 8 at 3:30PM EST.

New Canadian Packaging - Now Available

In Canada, Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend Sesamemilk is now in-stock and available through EcoIdeas in both their Eastern (Toronto area warehouse) and Western (Vancouver area warehouse) divisions, along with three other Hope and Sesame^® Sesamemilk flavors in Canadian dual-language compliant packaging (all in shelf-stable 32 oz cartons): Unsweetened Original, Unsweetened Vanilla, Original. For more information, please contact EcoIdeas ( sales@ecoideas.ca ).

National Press Coverage on Sesamemilk as Trend Grows

In addition to recent coverage in The Washington Post and Good Morning America, Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend Sesamemilk has attracted attention from multiple major media outlets this summer highlighting sesame and seed milks as the next important new trend in plant-based milks, including:

• SFGate: Sesame milk review: An udder-free milk that is utterly delicious
• Consumer Reports: Alcohol-Free Cocktails, Sesame Milk, and 4 Other Food Trends
• Thrillist: Move Over Oat and Almond, Try These New Alternative Milks
• PureWow: From Mezcal to Sunflower Milk, These Food Trends Will be Everywhere in Fall 2022
• SFGate: How to Make a Chai Latte
• The Food Institute: Coffee Shops Embracing Plant-based Options
• Mashed: The Seeds That Are Sprouting a New Alternative Milk Trend

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. To follow the brands on Instagram and Facebook, please visit: @hopeandsesameco, @veggicopia, @rightrice, @mozaicschips.

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. Nutritionally comparable to dairy milk, sesamemilk delivers 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, is 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 contain 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. The ‘next big thing’ in plant milks, Hope and Sesame^® sesamemilk has been covered as an up & coming trend by The Washington Post, Good Morning America, Consumer Reports, SF Gate, and other media outlets.

Hope and Sesame^® Sesamemilk is the first commercialized sesamemilk globally, with comparable nutrition to dairy, optimized to barista standards, and has been recognized with numerous awards, including:

Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend Sesamemilk:

• Winner, Best Product, CoffeeFest Chicago 2022
• Finalist, Best New Hospitality Product, 2022 GAMA Innovation Awards
• Finalist, Best Plant-Based Beverage, FoodBev’s 2022World Plant-Based Food Awards

Full Hope and Sesame^® Sesamemilk range:

• Winner, Best Milk Alternative, FoodBev’s 2021 World Plant-Based Food Awards
• Winner, Best Plant-Based Sustainability, FoodBev’s 2021 World Plant-Based Food Awards
• Finalist, Best Beverage Concept, 2019 World Beverage Awards
• Finalist, Best New Brand, 2019 World Beverage Awards
• Finalist, Best Plant-Based Drink, 2019 World Beverage Awards

Hope and Sesame^® signature Chocolate Hazelnut Sesamemilk:

• Winner, Best New Product 2022, Progressive Grocer
• Winner, Best New Product, Plant-Based Milk, 2020 Sofi Award (Specialty Food Association)
• Finalist, Best Plant-Based Beverage, FoodBev’s 2021 World Plant-Based Food Awards

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.

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.