Below is a photo of Melitta Bentz and her husband Hugo in 1897. Melitta was a German housewife who loved her coffee. “My mother, who had an excellent taste in coffee, was often irritated by the grounds in her cup,” recalled her son, Horst Bentz.
Not only that, Melitta became increasingly frustrated over having to clean the copper pot and get rid of the grounds that stuck like mud to the sides. Her days were spent trying to find a more efficient and cleaner way to brew. After going through a series of experiments, she was able to invent the paper coffee filter using the torn-out pages of Horst's schoolbook. She stuck it inside her tin pot, added coffee grounds, and poured hot water over it, which dripped through the paper. The paper filter was then tossed into the trash along with all the wet coffee grounds. She described the whole process as “perfect coffee enjoyment.”
Melitta Bentz a German housewife and entrepreneur who is credited with inventing the paper coffee filter. In 1908, she and her husband Hugo received a patent for their coffee filter design. This innovation revolutionized the way coffee is brewed, providing a cleaner and more convenient method for making coffee. Melitta's invention eventually led to the founding of the Melitta Group, a company that produces coffee-related products and household goods.
Melitta Bentz’s invention was not just a result of her frustration, but also a reflection of her keen observation and understanding of the common problems faced by coffee drinkers at that time. The percolators were prone to over-brewing the coffee, espresso-type machines tended to leave grounds in the drink, and linen bag filters were exhausting to clean. Her solution was a two-part filtration system using blotting paper from her son Willy’s school exercise book and a brass pot punctured using a nail. This invention was not only cheap and easy to clean, but it also produced tastier coffee.
When Bentz’s free, less bitter coffee was met with general enthusiasm, she set up a business. The Kaiserliche Patentamt (Imperial Patent Office) granted her a patent on the 20th of June 1908. On the 15th of December, the company entered into the commercial register with a starting capital of 73 pfennige as "M. Bentz". Bentz employed her husband Hugo and her sons Horst and Willy as the new company’s first employees. The family worked out of their home to assemble, package, and sell the filters.
Despite the challenges brought about by World War I, such as metals being requisitioned for use in Zeppelin construction, paper rationing, and disruption of normal business due to the British blockade which made coffee beans impossible to import, Bentz managed to keep the company running. She even had to support herself by selling cartons when filter production became impossible. By 1928, the demand for coffee filters was so high that 80 workers were needed in a double-shift system.
In 1908, she received the patent for the paper filter from the Imperial Patent Office in Berlin and went on to establish her own company, basing the headquarters in their Dresden apartment. She then became the employer of her husband at a time when women weren't even allowed to vote.
In 1958, eight years after Melitta Bentz’s death, the company received the Gold Medal at the Brussels World Exhibition for its coffee filter system.
Today, the Melitta Group employs more than 4,000 people all over the world and, in 2017, reported revenue of 1.5 billion euros.
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