• Industry Executive Miguel Martinez appointed as CFO (formerly VP Finance at Pure Sunfarms)
• Sylvia Lee to stand for election at the 2023 AGM (formerly in-house counsel at Keg Restaurants Ltd.), replacing Ruairi Twomey

KELOWNA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 4, 2023 / Avant Brands Inc (TSX:AVNT)(OTCQX:AVTBF)(FRA:1BU0) ("Avant" or the "Company"), a leading producer of innovative and award-winning cannabis products, is pleased to announce that it has appointed industry finance veteran, Miguel Martinez, as Chief Financial Officer of Avant. Miguel will be replacing Matthew Whitt who resigned as Chief Financial Officer of Avant.

"On behalf of the Company's board of directors and management team, we share an immense thank you to Matt for his many contributions to Avant," said Norton Singhavon, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Avant. "Matt was instrumental in elevating our financial reporting and disclosures and supporting us through a period of rapid growth and success. We wish Matt all the best and plenty of success in his future endeavours."

Miguel Martinez brings over a decade of experience in agriculture, working with Village Farms, and has been actively working in the Canadian cannabis market since 2017. Miguel served as the VP Finance for Pure Sunfarms, helping to build the company from its initial start-up to generating over $100 million in revenues while maintaining strong profits in a rapid growth environment and being compliant with Sarbanes-Oxley internal control standards. Miguel is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) who began his finance career with PricewaterhouseCoopers in their audit and assurance group where his industry of focus was financial services.

"We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Miguel as Avant's Chief Financial Officer," continued Singhavon. "With a proven track record of being an operationally focused finance leader in the cannabis industry, we are confident that Miguel will be a valuable asset to our management team, as we enter our next phase of growth through the recent Flowr acquisition. We look forward to the operational focus that Miguel will bring to the table, as we continue on our mission to become a global leader in ultra-premium cannabis products."

New Board Member for Election

Avant is also pleased to announce that Sylvia Lee has been added to the slate of directors for nomination to the Company's board of directors (the "Board") at the upcoming annual general meeting of shareholders (the "AGM") to be held Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at 1:00 P.M. PT. Sylvia will replace Ruairi Twomey who is not standing for re-election at the AGM, as the Company enters its next chapter of working towards continued growth and profitability. Upon Sylvia's appointment, five out of the six Board members will reside in Kelowna full time, which will enable strong corporate governance and robust oversight for the Company. The Board wishes to thank Ruairi for his service and contributions to Avant.

Sylvia has an extensive background in corporate and commercial law, focusing on providing general counsel to business with a particular emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, venture capital, tax, outsourcing and corporate and tax reorganizations.

Sylvia is currently a Partner at Quantum Law, a private practice located in the Okanagan, British Columbia, serving clients ranging from small tech start-ups, to syndicated lenders and income funds, to established multi-jurisdictional corporations. Sylvia began her career at McCarthy Tétrault LLP, where she garnered extensive experience in corporate commercial, franchise and securities law. Sylvia was formerly the head in-house counsel and director of legal services for Keg Restaurants Ltd., where she was responsible for determining the company's legal posture and interests in North America and for ensuring business practices and policies met regulatory requirements.

About Avant Brands Inc.

Avant is an innovative, market-leading premium cannabis company. Avant has multiple operational production facilities across Canada, which produce high-quality, handcrafted cannabis products, based on unique and exceptional cultivars. Avant's products are distributed via three complementary sales channels: recreational, medical and export. Avant's recreational consumer brands include: BLK MKT™, Tenzo™, Cognōscente™ and Treehugger™, which are sold in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Atlantic Canada, Québec and the territories. The Company's medical cannabis brand, GreenTec™, is distributed nationwide, directly to qualified patients through its GreenTec Medical portal and through various medical cannabis partners. Avant is a publicly traded corporation listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: AVNT), and cross-trades on the OTCQX Best Market (OTCQX: AVTBF) and Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FRA: 1BU0). The Company is headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia and has operations in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.

To learn more about Avant, access the investor presentation, or learn more about its consumer brands, please visit www.avantbrands.ca.

For additional information, please contact:
Investor Relations at Avant Brands Inc.
1-800-351-6358
ir@avantbrands.ca

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION:

This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company with respect to future business activities and operating performance. Forward-looking information is often identified by the words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" or similar expressions and includes information regarding: the Company's expectations for continued growth as a result of the acquisition of The Flowr Group (Okanagan) Inc. ("Flowr"); expectations regarding Miguel Martinez's operational focus as the Company's Chief Financial Officer; the Company's continued mission of becoming a global leader in ultra-premium cannabis products; the appointment of Sylvia Lee as a director of the Company at the AGM; the Company's focus on localizing the Board to Kelowna; the Company's expectations for strong corporate governance and robust oversight from localizing the Board to Kelowna; and expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.

Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is not based on historical fact but instead reflects management's expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, such information involves risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such information, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of the Company. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information are the following: the prompt and effective integration of Flowr's operations with the Company's; the ability to achieve the anticipated synergies; inherent uncertainty associated with projections; diversion of management time on transaction related issues; expectations regarding future growth and expansion; regulatory and licensing risks; changes in consumer demand and preferences; changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets and inflation-related risks; the global regulatory landscape and enforcement related to cannabis, including political risks and risks relating to regulatory change; compliance with extensive government regulation; public opinion and perception of the cannabis industry; and the risk factors set out in the Company's annual information form dated February 27, 2023, filed with Canadian securities regulators and available on the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information, which speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE: Avant Brands, Inc.