Melitta

Melitta () is a German company selling coffee, paper coffee filters, and coffee makers, part of the Melitta Group, which has branches in other countries. The company is headquartered in Minden, North Rhine-Westphalia.

It is named after Melitta Bentz (1873–1950) who founded the company after she invented the drip brew paper coffee filter (German patent granted July 8, 1908). Bentz later ran the company as a family business.

History

In 1908, Melitta Bentz, a 35-year-old woman from Dresden, Germany, invented the first coffee filter, receiving a patent registration for her "Filter Top Device lined with Filter Paper" from the Patent Office in Berlin on July 8. She founded the company bearing her name the same year.

In the 1930s, Melitta revised the original filter, tapering it into the shape of a cone and adding ribs. This created a larger filtration area, allowing for improved extraction of the ground coffee. In 1936, the widely recognised cone-shaped filter paper that fit inside the tapered filter top was introduced. The '102' became the most popular.

Melitta continued to develop new techniques to improve the shape, performance, material and production process of its filter systems. In 1989, Natural Brown coffee filters made from unbleached pulp were introduced, which kept unwanted by-products from leaching into the environment. In 1992 Melitta developed an oxygen-bleaching process to produce white paper without chlorine. In 1997, Melitta developed a filter with Flavor Pores, microfine perforations that filter out unwanted sediment, particles and oils. In 2002 Melitta added a second safety crimp to increase strength and durability. In 2007 bamboo Filters were introduced and the Flavor Pores filter was improved.

Melitta Group KG employed 3,300 people.

In the 2019 financial year, the group's turnover increased by 10 percent to almost 1.7 billion euros. The number of employees grew to 5654.

In April 2020, Melitta announced that the company would be manufacturing nose and face masks as part of the COVID-19 pandemic. The masks consist of a three-layer fleece and are produced worldwide. Melitta donates the first million masks to healthcare facilities.

Melitta USA

Melitta USA, headquartered in Clearwater, Florida, is part of the privately held Melitta Group of Minden, Germany. Melitta USA is responsible for the sales and marketing of Melitta coffee filters, coffee, and non electric coffee systems in the USA.

Melitta USA's coffee filters are manufactured in Clearwater, Florida, and the company has a coffee roasting operation in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The company Web site said in 2018 that it had been roasting coffee in Cherry Hill for more than 50 years.

See also

* Easy Serving Espresso Pod
* Flavia Beverage Systems
* Tea culture#Germany
* Utah teapot, a 3D graphics computer model of a modern Melitta teapot used in graphics research and testing

References

External links

Homepage of Melitta, Germany
with international links

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Coffee brands
Coffee appliance vendors
Home appliance manufacturers
German brands
Companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia
Drink companies of Germany
Manufacturing companies established in 1908
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
1908 establishments in Germany
Coffee in Germany
Home appliance manufacturers of Germany