April Shipments Flat

According to Beer Institute EstimatesWe were about 50,000 barrels shy of being flat in April beer shipments, according to estimates from Matthew Hein at the Beer Institute. That puts shipments down 0.3%, which is better than Apri IRI scans of supermarket beer sales down 2.1%. Data indicate two likely scenarios: 1. Distributor inventories were getting beefed up in anticipation of Easter and summer selling season, and 2. IRI supermarkets getting slammed by Wal-Mart (see BBD 05-07-03). Any way you cut