Planting Hope to Expand RightRice(R) Products to More Than 1,100 Publix Stores Across the Southeastern United States

CHICAGO, IL and VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 3, 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 will be supplying Publix with four RightRice® stock keeping units ("SKUs") to more than 1,100 of its stores across the Southeastern United States, increasing RightRice® Total Distribution Points ("TDP") by more than 4,400.

"Publix's addition of four RightRice® SKUs increases RightRice® TDP by approximately 10%, marking a major milestone for the brand," said Julia Stamberger, Planting Hope CEO and Co-founder. "RightRice® is an established and innovative plant-based brand positioned in premium rice category with growing sales outpacing commodity rice. We expect this new distribution channel will not only raise consumer awareness, but also further accelerate our growth for this year."

The four RightRice SKUs being added to Publix stores are the Original, Garlic Herb, Spanish, and Cilantro Lime flavors. The flavors will be added to store shelves beginning the week of May 20, 2022, bringing the RightRice® brand up to more than 46,000 TDP across the United States.

The TDP is calculated as the number of retail doors multiplied by the number of SKUs.

About RightRice®

RightRice® redefines a household staple with a delicious vegetable-based rice grain that's packed with the power of vegetables and complete plant-based protein. RightRice® is the first-of-its-kind: a shelf-stable vegetable grain that's a blend of over 90 percent vegetables, including lentils, chickpeas, green peas, and rice, and delivers on both taste and nutrition. With 10g of complete protein and 5g of fiber per serving, RightRice® delivers more than double the protein, five times the fiber and around 40 percent fewer net carbohydrates than traditional white rice, plus it can be prepared in 10 minutes. RightRice® is now available in a range of pre-seasoned flavors, plus multiple flavors of RightRice® Medley and RightRice® Risotto. RightRice® products are currently sold in more than 8,000 doors in leading retailers across North America, including Whole Foods Market, Wegman's, Kroger, Sprouts, Albertsons/Safeway, HEB, Ahold, Meijer, and Publix, as well as online through Amazon, Thrive Market, Hive and RightRice.com. All RightRice products are made using real herbs and spices, and are plant-based, non-GMO verified, gluten-free certified, and kosher certified. RightRice® Risotto was awarded Best Sauce/Store Cupboard Product in FoodBev's 2021 World Plant-Based Taste Awards and received the 2021 Eco Excellence Award for Best Gluten Free Product, in addition to being chosen as a 2021 Editors' Pick for Best New Product by Progressive Grocer. For more information visit: www.rightrice.com.

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, the effect of product launches on consumer awareness and sales growth, 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.