AMCON Appoints New Director.

Business Editors

OMAHA, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 21, 2002

AMCON Distributing Company (AMEX:DIT), an Omaha, NE based consumer products distributor, announced today that Stanley Mayer had been appointed a director of the Company to fill the seat of retiring director Jerry Fleming. Mr. Mayer, a native of South Africa, is a Chartered Accountant and a graduate of the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. He has been a U.S. citizen since 1983. Mr. Mayer presently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Donruss Playoff, an Arlington, Texas based company publishing baseball, football and collectable cards and games. Prior to that, Mr. Mayer was a Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Southern Union Company (NYSE:SUG).

William F. Wright, Chairman of AMCON, noted that "We are extremely pleased to welcome Stan to the Board of Directors. We believe that he will be a valuable addition to the board and to the audit committee of the board. Although we are saddened to note the retirement of Jerry Fleming, we are happy that Jerry has agreed to remain connected with the Company as a consultant for the next several years."

Mr. Fleming, who served as President of the Healthy Edge (previously Food For Health), a subsidiary of AMCON, stated that "I have immensely enjoyed my years with AMCON and, although I look forward to retirement, I know I will miss the day to day contact with the people at AMCON. Fortunately, I will be able to maintain those contacts through my consulting arrangement."

AMCON is a leading wholesale distributor of consumer products including beverages, candy, tobacco, groceries, food service, frozen and chilled foods, and health and beauty care products with distribution centers in Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Chamberlin's Natural Foods, Inc. and Health Food Associates, Inc., both wholly-owned subsidiaries of The Healthy Edge, Inc. (formerly Food For Health Co., Inc.), operate health and natural product retail stores in central Florida (7), Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma (3). The retail stores operate under the names Chamberlin's Market & Cafe and Akin's Natural Foods Market. Hawaiian Natural Water Company, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMCON, produces and sells natural water under the Hawaiian Springs(TM) label that is bottled at the source on the Big Island of Hawaii.

This news release contains forward looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties and which reflect management's current beliefs and estimates of future economic circumstances, industry conditions, Company performance and financial results. A number of factors could affect the future results of the Company and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the Company's forward looking statements. Moreover, past financial performance should not be considered a reliable indicator of future performance. Accordingly, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to all such forward-looking statements.

Visit AMCON Distributing Company's web site at: www.amcon-dist.com