Dan Cox Receives the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Specialty Coffee Association in 2012
Mr. Cox is President and Owner of Coffee Enterprises, which is located in Burlington, Vermont. Founded in 1992, CE is the administrative body for Coffee Analysts. Coffee Analysts analyzes coffee in all forms (green, roasted, instant and liquid) and maintains extensive physical and sensory testing labs. CE also acts as a strategic management consultant and as an expert in coffee litigation cases.
Dan is a leading authority on the Specialty Coffee Industry and brings to bear 33 years of practical experience in management, roasting, cupping, product development, and marketing. US Patent issued July 11, 2000 Des.427, 746 for Coffee Bean Confection (Ice Cream Bean Pop).
Beginning as the first full-time employee, Dan ultimately became Vice President/Partner at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Waterbury, VT). From 1981 until 1992 he was primarily responsible for their sales growth and national recognition.
Mr. Cox has written for numerous trade journals and has been a consultant in many consumer media venues including CNBC’s Street Signs, Good Morning America, Fox News, National Public Radio, USA Today, Business Week, The Chicago Tribune, Seattle Times, Boston Herald, and many others. He has taught seminars on “How to Cup Coffee” at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York and New England Culinary Institute in Vermont.
From 1984-1987 Dan was elected to three consecutive terms as national co-chairman of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, and was elected again in 1998-99 as Secretary/Treasurer. In 1993, he was presented with the prestigious Distinguished Service “Man of the Year” Award from the SCAA. Dan continues to be a featured speaker at their annual convention.
In 1989 Dan was Chairman of the Coffee Development Group, the US marketing arm for the International Coffee Organization based in London. In 1994 he was elected the first Chairman of the Board of Advisors for Coffee Kids, an international non-profit organization dedicated to helping children of coffee producing countries. In 1998 Dan was elected as one of nine Trustees of the newly formed Specialty Coffee Institute based in Long Beach, CA and is a recent Past Chairman of the Board. The name has been changed to Coffee Quality Institute and in 2004 Dan was named as Chairman of the Board.
Dan has led coffee groups on three international tours of nine coffee-growing regions in Africa, Central America, Hawaii, and Jamaica. Through his publications in numerous trade and consumer journals and public presentations, he is nationally known as a resource for coffee information and trends. He has visited 19 coffee producing countries and over 170 coffee roasting plants throughout the world.
In 2007, Dan was the second American to pass the rigorous Q Grader exam and is one of 253 Q Graders in the USA, with over 1,000 worldwide.
In 2012, Dan received the prestigious honor of Lifetime Achievement Award from the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) which gathered in Portland, Oregon on April 19th, 2012 for its annual convention.
In 2013, Dan Cox published his first book, Handling Hot Coffee: Preventing Spills, Burns, and Lawsuits. Handling Hot Coffee discusses and defends industry standards for hot beverage temperatures along with the most current information on burn and spill prevention, product liability, and the history of coffee-spill lawsuits.
Dan is the co-Founder and President of Grounds for Health, a non-profit organization bringing health care to women in coffee producing countries. Since its inception in 1996, more than 45,000 women have been screened for cervical cancer through Grounds for Health programs.
Along the way, Dan has served as a Captain (Infantry) in the Army, worked as an Emergency Medical Technician/ambulance, and has been elected a Justice of the Peace.
Send email to dancox@coffee-ent.com