Break-even sales The Boston Beer Company Inc. (SAM) produces Samuel Adams beer and other alcoholic beverages. Boston Beer reported the following operating information for a recent year (in thousands):

Line Item Description Amount Amount

Sales $4,352,000

Cost of goods sold $1,088,000

Selling, general, and administrative expenses 612,000 (1,700,000)

Operating income $2,652,000*

*Before special items

In addition, assume that Boston Beer sold 34,000 thousand barrels of beer during the year. Assume that variable costs were 75% of the cost of goods sold and 50% of selling, general, and administrative expenses. Assume that the remaining costs are fixed. For the following year, assume that Boston Beer expects pricing, variable costs per barrel, and fixed costs to remain constant, except that new distribution and general office facilities are expected to increase fixed costs by $17.30 million.

a. Compute the break-even number of barrels for the current year. Round to the nearest thousand of barrels. fill in the blank 1 of 1 thousand barrels

b. Compute the anticipated break-even number of barrels for the following year. Round to the nearest thousand of barrels. fill in the blank 1 of 1 thousand barrels