AMCON Expands Board of Directors.

Business Editors

OMAHA, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2002

AMCON Distributing Company (AMEX:DIT), an Omaha, NE based consumer products distributor, announced today that it has increased the number of directors of the Company to eight and has elected Raymond F. Bentele, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, to serve as a director of the Company.

Mr. Bentele, 65, served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mallinckrodt Inc. for eleven years prior to his retirement. During his tenure at Mallinckrodt, the company's stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Mr. Bentele currently serves on the boards of Kellwood Company (NYSE:KWD), Leggett and Platt Incorporated (NYSE:LEG), and IMC Global, Inc. (NYSE:IGL). He has also served on the boards of many community organizations, including the Board of Trustees of Washington University, and has previously served on the boards of several other New York Stock Exchange companies, including Boatman's Bank and Avon Products.

William F. Wright, Chairman of AMCON, commented that "We are happy to increase the size of our Board of Directors in order to acquire the counsel of an individual of Ray Bentele's caliber. The addition of Ray to our Board helps us to achieve our quest for a well-rounded, diverse Board of Directors, the majority of whom are independent. We believe that this is most important in today's business world, and as our Company continues its growth. We believe that our shareholders will be pleased with the association of Ray with our Company. We know that the other members of our Board of Directors are."

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 spring water under the Hawaiian Springs(TM) label, which water 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