CHICAGO, IL, USA and VANCOUVER, BC, Canada – The Planting Hope Company Inc. has secured three new distributors for its Hope and Sesame Barista Blend, expanding retail, foodservice, and ecommerce channels in North America. “Coming out of the Specialty Coffee Association show, we’re off to a phenomenal start only six weeks after we first debuted Hope and Sesame Barista Blend to the industry,” said Julia Stamberger, CEO and Co-founder of Planting Hope.
“The feedback we heard is clear: sesamemilk is disrupting the third wave coffee industry where quality and sustainability matter, and not just to consumers, but also to producers, importers, roasters, and baristas. This momentum is inspiring coffee shops across the country to replace almond and soy with sesamemilk, which is being called a ‘game-changing’ plant milk for coffeeshops – a delicious, more sustainable option, which performs like a dream in hot and cold beverages.”
Hope and Sesame Barista Blend was the only plant-based milk finalist for Best New Product, Specialty Coffee Beverage Additive at the national Specialty Coffee Expo 2022.
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
The Hope and Sesame Barista Blend has secured the following distributors, reaching more than 3,000 independent coffee shops:
- Odeko, a mobile app that allows consumers to select their favorite local coffee shop, café, or bakery and order their preferred coffee beverage while enabling these independent small businesses to manage their inventory, has added Hope and Sesame® Barista Blend to its platform for coffee shops in Metro New York City, Atlanta, Charlotte, and San Francisco.
- Baristaundergound.com, the leading online wholesale supplier of coffee and tea accessories to independent espresso cafés, has agreed to list Hope and Sesame® Barista Blend in its offerings and to ship anywhere in the USA, making Barista Blend available to their customers across the country.
- Ecoideas, a leading manufacturer and distributor of natural health products to retailers across Canada, has added Hope and Sesame® Barista Blend to its product offering.
“At Odeko, we’re constantly looking for new delicious alternatives to traditional dairy, and the rise in plant milks is making waves across coffee shops big and small,” said Jake Weiser, Senior Manager of Vendor Relations at Odeko. “We are excited to partner with The Planting Hope Company and offer their Hope and Sesame Barista Blend sesamemilk to our network of cafés and small businesses. Together, we look forward to planting hope and creating a more sustainable future for us all.”
Café channel expands Hope and Sesame market opportunity
Planting Hope has conducted an internal research and analysis of the plant-based barista market opportunity in the United States based on market data from a few key distributors in the foodservice space and independent cafes. The key findings are as follows:
- Plant milk usage at independent cafes is trending at 46% of total milk usage (all milks including dairy and plant milks), indicating a market size of US $2.0 billion per year for this channel. This is up from 30% of total milk usage in 2019, or a $1.35 billion plant-based milk market through the more than 31,000 independent cafés in the United States (not including large coffee chains and other points of purchase for barista plant-based milks and creamers).
- Independent café feedback indicates a pervasive interest in more sustainable alternatives to replace almond milk, creating a disruptive opportunity for Hope and Sesame® Barista Blend.
- Coffee shop milk options can influence consumer awareness and have a lead-on effect to consumption behavior trends in the grocer channel
- 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)
