INDIANAPOLIS -- The prelude to the Greatest Spectacle in Racing this weekend is the greatest spectacle in beer delivery.
Monarch Beverage Company is using an automated picking machine to expedite the thousands of beer orders that must be filled.
"About 1.5 million cases of beer is what that will equate to for the month of May," said Natalie Roberts, senior vice president for Monarch Beverage Company. "We anticipated selling 100,000 cases a day, which is almost double what we would normally do. So getting it out to the accounts and getting the product where it needs to be is our priority this week."
Monarch has hired 35 college students to help deliver the product, and many of them are working overtime.
Also, executives, who don't normally unload trucks or put beer in coolers, are pressed into service to make sure all goes well.
"I'm sore right now," said Fred Dufour, senior vice president of operations. "We were out yesterday. When you're not used to it, it takes its toll. It's a little more fun when you get out here with the guys delivering."
The goal is to have all the deliveries finished by 5 p.m. Friday. There will be no deliveries on Saturday or Sunday.
