New Format, New Channel
BERO, the premium non-alcoholic beer co-founded by Tom Holland and John Herman, is entering a new packaging format with the national launch of its Kingston Golden Pils in a signature glass bottle — available now through DTC at berobrewing.com and in select on-premise accounts across the U.S. and United Kingdom. The move marks a deliberate route-to-market shift for a brand that has operated primarily in the canned non-alc segment, and it signals BERO's intent to compete directly on-premise where glass has historically commanded placement at the bar and the table.
The glass SKU is priced at $20 per 6-pack on DTC, a price point that reinforces the brand's premium positioning in a non-alcoholic category that has grown crowded with value-tier entries. For on-premise operators — restaurants, bars, and hotels — the glass format addresses a persistent friction point: non-alcoholic beer has increasingly earned a seat in beverage programs, but the can format has limited its integration into plated dining occasions and cocktail-adjacent presentations where glass is the standard.
On-Premise Is the Strategic Target
John Herman, Co-Founder and CEO of BERO, framed the launch as a long-planned channel strategy rather than a reactive SKU addition. "Before BERO launched — before the artwork for our cans was even finalized — we envisioned the brand in a glass bottle," Herman said. "We developed this bottle for the places we believe the category is going next — bars, restaurants, hotels and beyond — bringing our award-winning beer into a format and experience that we believe has been missing from the modern craft non-alcoholic beer space."
That framing carries weight in distribution conversations. Glass commands cold-chain and shelf-placement requirements that differ meaningfully from cans, and on-premise accounts typically manage non-alc beer through the same wholesaler relationships that handle traditional beer SKUs. BERO's expansion into glass puts the brand in a position to negotiate back-bar placement and menu integration in a way that canned formats rarely achieve in fine-casual and full-service dining environments.
The brand's DTC channel provides a direct consumer sell-through path that bypasses the three-tier system, but on-premise velocity will ultimately depend on wholesaler adoption and depletions data from those accounts. Whether BERO's existing distribution network can efficiently move glass inventory — with its higher breakage risk and cold-chain demands — into targeted on-premise doors will be a key operational variable in the rollout's success.
Category Tailwinds Support the Bet
U.S. non-alcoholic beer volumes are projected to grow 18% annually through 2029, according to figures cited by BERO from global beverage alcohol data. The brand points to glass already representing just over a quarter of category volume, a share driven largely by consumer demand in hospitality and foodservice settings. BERO claims the Kingston Golden Pils glass bottle is the first such format from a craft non-alcoholic beer in the U.S. market — a first-mover claim that, if it holds, could generate meaningful on-premise trial before competitors close the format gap.
For distributors and wholesalers navigating the non-alc shelf, BERO's glass entry is a test case for whether premium packaging can unlock incremental on-premise placements rather than simply cannibalizing existing can depletions. The category's growth trajectory suggests the demand is there; execution through the three-tier system will determine whether the glass bottle becomes a volume driver or a limited-run brand statement.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
