About

Dan Cox is a leading authority on the Specialty Coffee Industry and brings more than 42 years of practical experience in management, roasting, cupping, product development, and marketing.

He is the founder and president of Dan Cox & Associates, a consulting company providing strategic management and expert witness in hot beverage litigation cases involving beverage temperatures. Dan is the author of Handling Hot Coffee; Preventing Spills, Burns, and Lawsuits, and Coffee: Too Hot to Handle or Mishandled: A Guide to Hot Beverage Spills and Burn Lawsuits. He created a comprehensive warning icon for hot beverages and an informational poster for foodservice operators. Mr. Cox has been hired to work on more than 80 hot spill/burn lawsuits and testified numerous trials which all resulted in decisions for the defense.

Cox has earned industry recognition for his extensive knowledge and lifetime of work: serving as a three-term president of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and chairman of both the Coffee Development Group and Coffee Quality Institute. He was honored as the SCAA’s “Man of the Year” and later earned the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also served as president of the Coffee Kids Advisory committee, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children of coffee-producing countries.

Cox founded Coffee Enterprises, an industry leader providing consulting services, business intelligence, and laboratory technical services specializing in quality control, product development, and specification creation for coffee, tea, cocoa and other related products, where he remains company President. He co-founded Grounds for Health, a nonprofit organization that brings health care services to more than 100,000 women in five coffee-producing countries, and is a member of the Board of Directors.

Cox has traveled to 22 coffee producing countries and toured more than 170 coffee roasting facilities worldwide. He has been a guest consultant for the media, including Good Morning America, Good Morning Guatemala, FOX News, National Public Radio, CNN, China Global Television Network. He has also written many trade journal articles: Business Week, the Chicago Tribune, Seattle Times, Boston Herald, USA TODAY, Eating Well magazine, among others.

Cox graduated with a BA degree from Norwich University in Vermont, and was inducted into their Athletic Hall of Fame. 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

Cox continues to offer senior tasting expertise and is a consultant for strategic management and expert witness in coffee litigation cases involving beverage temperatures.

Spencer Turer knows all about coffee. He leads a team of coffee and tea technical specialists for product testing and consulting at Coffee Enterprises, the sister company to Dan Cox & Associates. A Licensed Q-Grader and founding member of the Roasters Guild, Spencer is also an active volunteer for the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), the National Coffee Association USA, and the International Women’s Coffee Alliance.  He has received the SCAA’s Outstanding Contribution to the Association Award, and is a frequent presenter at coffee trade events, a respected judge for coffee competitions, a writer for industry magazines, and a technical resource for the media.

Emery Behanna is the center of communication for the office, processing priority information and keeping communication moving, aware that everyone’s time is valuable. He comes to Dan Cox & Associates from a background in the arts, holding a BFA in Illustration from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Before becoming a dedicated administrator, he held positions ranging from barista to print technician, accumulating the skills needed to coordinate an office environment. He is still an active illustrator, writer, and quilter when not behind an office desk.