Planting Hope Announces Distribution of Hope and Sesame(R) Barista Blend Sesamemilk in Costco Warehouse Stores

CHICAGO, IL and VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 6, 2024 / The Planting Hope Company Inc. (TSXV:MYLK)(OTCQB:MYLKF)(FRA:J94) ("Planting Hope" or the "Company"), a dynamic Foodtech innovation company dedicated to creating breakthrough delicious, sustainable food and beverage solutions through cutting-edge ingredient, formulation, and packaging technology, is pleased to announce that it has launched its Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend Sesamemilk in 20 select Costco Warehouse Stores across the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, including locations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. This rotation program will be in the store for approximately 12 weeks or while supplies last. Future and expanded distribution opportunities with Costco are dependent on many factors, including sales velocity during this initial program.

Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend Sesamemilk is packaged in a special 6-pack unit of six 32 oz cartons just for Costco warehouse members at $18.99/6-pack (equivalent to $3.19 per carton). Costco distribution is done on ‘shoppable pallets' of a single selected product, in this case the top seller in the Hope and Sesame^® product line, the Barista Blend, which specially formulated to froth, foam, steam, and perform like a dream in hot and iced beverages, from coffee to teas and bubble teas, to matcha and smoothies.

Hope and Sesame^® Sesamemilk is a breakthrough in plant-based milks, offering a quantum leap forward in sustainability: a 6-pack of sesamemilk saves 582L of water over the same size 6-pack case of almond milk.

Cradle-to-grave, Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend uses 54% less water than oat milk, 75% less than almond milk, and 84% less than dairy milk, per a study conducted in partnership with Planet FWD. Sesamemilk is packed with nutrition, supplying 2x the protein of comparable oat or almond barista-style milk products. The rest of the sesamemilk line provides 8x the protein in almond milk and 3x the protein in oat milk.

"We are thrilled to introduce our Hope and Sesame^® Barista Blend Sesamemilk across the Pacific Northwest, ostensibly the seat of coffee innovation in the United States and an area that has been the incubator for great cafés from Starbucks to Stumptown to Caffè Umbria," said Julia Stamberger, CEO and co-founder, Planting Hope. "By switching to sesamemilk, Costco members are able to upgrade the deliciousness of their plant based milk, plus double up their protein and save a substantial amount of water over most barista almond and oat milks."

"Fittingly, Hope and Sesame^® Sesamemilk is being introduced to Costco members during the Lunar New Year season, where sesame is part of many traditional foods served to celebrate the new year across Asia," continued Ms. Stamberger. "We're excited to celebrate 2024, the Year of the Dragon!"

Washington:

Bellingham, WA | 4125 Arctic Ave, 98226

Issaquah, WA | 1801 10th Ave NW, 98027

Kennewick, WA | 8505 W. Gage Blvd, 99336

Seattle, WA | 4401 4th Ave S, 98134

Shoreline, WA | 1175 N 205th St, 98133

Silverdale, WA | 10000 Mickelberry Rd NW, 98383

Spokane N, WA | 12020 N Newport Hwy, 99218

Spokane, WA | 5601 E Sprague Ave, 99212

Tukwila, WA | 400 Costco Dr Ste 150, 98188

Oregon:

Bend, OR | 2500 NE Highway 20, 97701

Central Point, OR | 3075 Hamrick Road, 97502

Clackamas, OR | 13130 SE 84th Ave, 97015

Eugene, OR | 2828 Chad Dr, 97408

Hillsboro, OR | 1255 NE 48th Ave, 97124

Portland, OR | 4849 NE 138th Ave, 97230

Salem, OR | 4885 27th Ave. SE, 97306

Tigard, OR | 7850 SW Dartmouth St, 97223

Idaho

Couer D'Alene, ID | 355 E Neider Ave, 83815

Alaska:

Anchorage, AK | 330 W Dimond Blvd, 99515

NE Anchorage, AK | 4125 Debarr Rd, 99508

About The Planting Hope Company Inc.

Planting Hope is reimagining and reinventing food today so that our planet can feed 10 billion people tomorrow. A Foodtech-driven company at the forefront of sustainable consumer food and beverage evolution, Planting Hope transforms nutrient-dense, widely cultivated crops into innovative, nutrient-rich products that reimagine pantry staples in the largest, fastest growing global food categories.

Our award-winning breakthrough brands, including Hope and Sesame^® Sesamemilk, RightRice^® High-Protein Veggie Rice, and Mozaics™ Real Veggie Chips, are not only disrupting global markets but also significantly reducing environmental footprints. Available across the US and Canada in grocery retailers (Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Markets), through foodservice operators (CAVA Mediterranean restaurants - NYSE: CAVA), and e-commerce and alternative retail channels (Amazon, QVC), our products blend culinary innovation with advanced technology, offering breakthrough products with wide moats. Our products are poised to disrupt global food and beverage categories, make a positive impact on the world, and provide investors with valuable opportunities in the growing sustainable food market.

This is the food that Gen Z is demanding and that Gen Alpha will grow up with: this is the future of food.

Explore more at plantinghopecompany.com, sign up for Planting Hope news emails HERE and follow us on LinkedIn.

For Planting Hope product sales and distribution opportunities, please contact James Curley, EVP of Sales, at james@plantinghopecompany.com.

Contacts

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

Investor Relations + Media Contact:
Corinn Williams
(773) 492-2243
Corinn@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 news 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, but not limited to, 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, the Company's business prospects, future trends, plans, scalability and strategies, that the Company will achieve profitability in the next few years, the timing of the Company's implementation of NetSuite, and the Company's key growth priorities for 2023 . 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 forward-looking 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 statements, 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.