QHA caught up with Darren Terlich, Director of Liquid Specialty Beverages and we discussed all things liquor wholesaling, current trends and what’s happening in the on-premise landscape across Queensland.
QHA: Can you tell us a bit about your business?
Liquid Specialty Beverages (LSB) was established in 2005 by the Harch family and joined by the Terlich family in 2010. We are Queensland’s largest independent, family owned and operated Liquor wholesaler. Being a family business has helped embed our company values of honesty, integrity and reliability. We live and breathe these values in order to build and maintain strong relationships with our valued customers and supply partners.
We are nimble and strive to always go that extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction. We service the beautiful state of Queensland from Brisbane to the Far North and down to Northern New South Wales. We own and operate our own fleet of delivery vehicles, which gives us increased control and enables us to provide a more efficient and effective service for our customers.
Our goal as a business is to partner with our customers by advising them on the right products for their business and to simplify the process for them, in essence becoming their ‘one stop shop’.
Through our team of specialists and Business Development Managers we offer our customers category insights and training, support with menu development, POS, year-round category promotional programs and access to trade activations.
QHA: You’ve been involved since 2010, can you tell us what significant changes have taken place in the industry in the last 10 years?
Over the last 10 years we have witnessed significant change across the hospitality industry, the consumers desire for choice and premiumisation has dictated we invest heavily in developing our range. It’s fast paced and ever evolving so it is essential we are across the category trends to stay relevant with our customers. Being family owned and run enables us to be more flexible and adaptable to change. From the beginning, we’ve always focused on customer satisfaction and we do this through the range and service we provide, the drinks solutions we offer, and training through our team and supplier partners.
We are very proud Queenslanders and this state is producing some incredible drinks made by local people using local produce. We are excited to range and promote this ever-growing selection.
QHA: How has LSB evolved to keep up with ever changing trends?
To accommodate our ever-growing range, we moved to a new warehouse facility in April 2019. We went from 6,000m2 to 10,000m2 in order to effectively and efficiently service our large customer base. These new facilities also have both cold storage for kegs and a climate control wine room which enables us to store our product at optimal temperatures.
In July 2016 together with two other family wholesalers, Paramount Liquor (VIC, NSW, SA) and Liquid Mix (WA), we launched 100Proof, a national on-premise marketing arm to offer enhanced services to support our customers. Linked to prior experience, we developed a model that works on category first and in developing a customer, key supplier partner and wholesaler relationship. Our mission is simple, to inspire Australian on-premise to build the world’s best venues.
QHA: What is it about servicing the hospitality industry that you love?
We are part of a passionate, hardworking and fun hospitality community. We are proud and thoroughly enjoy helping our customers to create memorable experiences in their venues. We recently hosted our annual 100Proof LIVE event in Brisbane and over 400 people from venues across Queensland attended. These events are a great opportunity for us to showcase what we do as a business and to meet and talk to hundreds of the talented and inspiring people working in these great venues.
Family Owned and Run since 2005
