Darrin Daniel

Darrin Daniel is an American coffee industry consultant, publisher, and nonprofit executive. He is the founder of Cityful Press Coffee Consulting and formerly served as Executive Director of the Cup of Excellence and Alliance for Coffee Excellence, where he helped oversee the Cup of Excellence program. He has also held sourcing and leadership roles at Stumptown Coffee Roasters and Whole Foods Market/Allegro Coffee Company.

Career

Daniel began his career in the coffee industry in the 1990s, initially working in retail and roasting. He later held green coffee sourcing roles at Allegro Coffee Company, the coffee division of Whole Foods Market, where he helped develop sustainable sourcing programs and direct trade relationships with producers.

He later joined Stumptown Coffee Roasters as Director of Sourcing, where he worked on building relationships in Latin America and East Africa and helped guide quality assurance and sustainability programs.

In 2017, Daniel was appointed Executive Director of the Alliance for Coffee Excellence, the nonprofit organization that manages the Cup of Excellence competitions and auctions. During his tenure, he expanded the program’s reach, introduced producer-led models, and emphasized transparency and quality innovation.

In 2024, Daniel launched Cityful Press Coffee Consulting, a Portland-based firm that advises producers, exporters, nonprofits, and buyers across the specialty coffee supply chain. In 2025, Daniel's is developing a event newscast entitled: The Bigger Coffee Picture with Darrin Daniel, a weekly newscast explaining and exploring the international coffee industry from the hands of farmers to the cup in your hand. explain the economics of coffee, the climatic limitations of coffee farming, the hard truths of the historic trade of coffee, the current political coffee situation, and the future of where coffee is headed as a commodity and as a cultural driver.

Literary and Editorial Work

Daniel is the founder and publisher of Cityful Press, an independent press focused on poetry, cultural history, and coffee-related writing. He oversees the publication of *Emergency Horse Magazine*, a journal of contemporary poetry and essays.

Cityful Press is also the publisher of the 1999 *Think of the Self Speaking: Harry Smith Selected Interviews*, a collection of archival materials related to Harry Smith, the American archivist, ethnomusicologist, and visual artist known for his *Anthology of American Folk Music* and experimental films.

Media and Public Engagement

Daniel has been featured in national media and industry platforms. He was a guest on Oregon Public Broadcasting's *Think Out Loud* program in 2025 to discuss the impact of federal policy changes on coffee imports and the U.S. specialty coffee market.

He has appeared on the Map It Forward podcast and was profiled in *Standart* magazine’s “Meet the Reader” series in 2020.

In 2014, Daniel participated in the Haiti Coffee Academy project alongside Allegro Coffee, La Colombe, TechnoServe, and former President Bill Clinton, helping launch sustainable coffee initiatives in Haiti.

He was also a featured speaker at the 2022 Food Meets Science event hosted by The Best Chef Awards.

In 2021, Daniel appeared in a recorded lecture titled *“How Cup of Excellence is Changing the Coffee Industry”*, published by Coffee Knowledge Hub on YouTube.

Published Writings and Media Appearances

• Co-author, Morizet, D., Daniel, D., et al. (2022). "Toward a More Equitable Coffee Future: Promoting Smallholder Resilience through Metrics and Shared Value." *Agronomy*, 12(12), 3203. MDPI
• Co-author, Anthony, F., Daniel, D., et al. (2022). "Deciphering Early Movements and Domestication of *Coffea arabica* through a Comprehensive Genetic Diversity Study Covering Ethiopia and Yemen." *Frontiers in Plant Science*, 13, 978876. Frontiers
• Regular contributor to Cityful Press Substack, publishing essays on coffee, ethics, and literary culture.
• Appeared in the documentary *A Film About Coffee* (2014).
• Speaker at the Probat Connecting Markets Coffee Symposium (2022).

Selected Works and Initiatives

• Co-led the Hidden Gems of Ecuador (2025), promoting equitable access for Arabica producers, which is an on-going project to support producers and highlight Ecuador.
• Was on a panel at the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) in 2018.
• Frequent speaker and panelist at the Specialty Coffee Association’s Expo, AFCA conferences, and other global events in over 15 countries.

Personal Life

Daniel is based in Portland, Oregon. His work bridges the worlds of specialty coffee, poetry, and cultural research. Born in Walnut Creek, California, in 1966, his family later moved to Eugene, Oregon in 1977. He attended Marist High School and the University of Oregon, and graduated from Naropa University in 1992 with a BA in English (with an emphasis in poetics), where he studied with Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, and artist Harry Smith. He previously lived in Longmont, Colorado, where he raised three children. Currently lives in Oregon.

External Links

• Cityful Press Substack
• Alliance for Coffee Excellence

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