• Total Distribution Points (Grocery Retail Doors x Number of SKU Facings Per Door) across RightRice®, Hope and Sesame®, and Mozaics™ now total more than 50,700 in North America
• Retailers continue to prioritize sustainability and nutrition from plant-based products, rapidly embracing the new Mozaics™ sustainable packaging, with additions at two high grossing retail grocery chains, Woodman's, and Roche Bros
• RightRice® continues to add distribution of both product lines
• QVC continues to be a successful channel for RightRice®, which recently had its third live sales event in 2022 on the home shopping channel

CHICAGO, IL and VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 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 the world's most nutritious and planet-friendly products, is pleased to announce that the Company has secured new distribution at four retailers for its Mozaics™ and RightRice® brands. Across its RightRice®, Hope and Sesame®, and Mozaics™ brands, the cumulative Total Distribution Points ('TDP') in North America now exceed 50,700 in more than 11,600 retail doors.

The retailers and Stock Keeping Unit ('SKU') additions are as follows:

• Woodman's Market - two Mozaics™ flavors across 18 stores for an additional 36 TDP
• Roche Bros. - two Mozaics™ flavors across 21 stores for an additional 42 TDP
• Raley's Supermarket - one RightRice® flavor across 120 stores for an additional 120 TDP
• Earth Fare - one RightRice® flavor and one RightRice® Risotto flavor across 25 stores for an additional 50 TDP

'Retail grocers are rapidly embracing the new Mozaics™ sustainable packaging, rolled out at the end of 2021 to great interest given heightened consumer and retailer demand for planet-friendly alternatives,' said Julia Stamberger, CEO and Co-founder of Planting Hope. 'Additionally, on-trend is RightRice®'s strong complete protein profile, double that of white rice, at a time when consumers are not only converting to more plant-based options in their diets but starting to prioritize complete nutrition from these sources. Even with this accelerated distribution, we've barely scratched the surface of opportunity with both brands, and in the second half of 2022, we will focus in on growing consumer adoption and accelerating velocity at these retail distribution points.'

Mozaics™ has also been selected by Associated Services as part of their office campus foodservice snack program for the San Francisco market. Office foodservice is a profitable and brand-supportive channel for snack brands, requiring no trade spend or incremental marketing support that additionally acts as a sampling opportunity to introduce and familiarize high-value consumers to the brands.

Additionally, Hungryroot has added both Veggicopia® Greek Green Snack Olives and Kalamata Snack Olives to their ecommerce platform. Hungryroot provides good-for-you, plant-based meals and snacks designed to be eaten as is or that can be prepared simply. The company's subscription plans deliver plant-based meals of consumers' choice to their home, providing the opportunity for consumers to be introduced to Veggicopia® products.

TDP is calculated as the number of retail doors multiplied by the number of SKUs, and it is a Company estimate based on the best available data.

RightRice® Returned to QVC Earlier This Month, Mozaics™ to Return in Late May
RightRice® Veggie Rice was invited to return to QVC for its third on-air sales event in 2022, highlighting a variety pack of RightRice®: 10 7oz Bags of High Protein Veggie Rice to millions of at-home shoppers. This exclusive RightRice® variety pack includes two bags each of the Original, Spanish, Cilantro Lime, Garlic & Herb, and Lemon Pepper flavors.

Mozaics™ Real Veggie Chips is scheduled to return to QVC on May 25, 2022, for its third on-air sales event this year. The previously-introduced variety pack of Mozaics™: 16 Snack Sized Bags of Popped Chips will be presented. There are two options when ordering this exclusive Mozaics™ variety pack: either 10 bags of Sea Salt flavor and six bags of BBQ flavor, or 10 bags of Sea Salt flavor and six bags of Salsa flavor.

QVC is a world leader in video commerce, which includes video-driven shopping across linear TV, ecommerce sites, digital streaming, and social platforms. QVC empowers shoppers with knowledge and shares insights in a lively and engaging way. In the United States, QVC 1 reaches 94 million households¹ and reaches millions more via multiple streaming services, websites, mobile apps, and social pages.

RightRice® and Mozaics™ are available on multiple configurations on QVC.com on an ongoing basis, including the recently aired RightRice® variety pack and the Mozaics™ variety pack appearing again on QVC later this month. The recorded segments are available here:

• Click here to watch the most recent RightRice® segment
• Click here to watch the most recent Mozaics™ segment

For more information about QVC, please visit www.qvc.com.

New Director of Conventional Grocery
Georgia Jordan has joined Planting Hope in a newly created position tasked with expanding distribution of all Planting Hope brands into Conventional Grocery retailers, beyond the Natural channel where most of the better-for-you food and beverage products make their debut (Whole Foods Market, Sprouts, etc.). Most recently, Georgia has served as National Account Manager at Applegate, one of the fastest-growing brands in the Natural Meat category in the United States over the past decade, where she consistently exceeded sales targets. Georgia's passion for health and wellness, along with her desire to work with a mission-based company, made the move to Planting Hope a natural fit.

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
[email protected]

Media Contact:
Rachel Kay Public Relations
Becca Stonebraker
(818) 383-3929
[email protected]

Investor Relations Contact:
Caroline Sawamoto
Investor Relations
(773) 492-2243
[email protected]

References

1. https://corporate.qvc.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 business prospects, upcoming QVC appearances, future trends, plans and strategies regarding Mozaics™ and RightRice® and its business in general. 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.