About Melitta
Melitta is the legendary German coffee brand that invented the paper coffee filter in 1908, revolutionising how the world brews coffee and still setting the standard today. ## The Kitchen Invention That Changed Coffee In 1908, Dresden housewife Melitta Bentz was frustrated with the bitter, gritty coffee produced by traditional brewing methods. Experimenting with a perforated brass cup and blotting paper from her son's school exercise book, she created the world's first paper coffee filter. This simple but brilliant innovation produced clean, flavourful coffee without the grounds that plagued percolators and fabric filters. ## From Patent to Global Company Melitta Bentz patented her "Filter Top Device lined with Filter Paper" on 8 July 1908 and, with just 73 Reich pfennigs in capital, registered the M. Bentz company in Dresden on 15 December that year. With her husband Hugo handling production while she led marketing, Melitta sold 1,200 filter units at the 1909 Leipzig Trade Fair. In 1932, the company introduced the iconic cone-shaped filter that refined brewing even further. ## The Distinctive Red and Green The famous red and green Melitta packaging was introduced in 1925 to distinguish genuine Melitta filters from imitators—and remains instantly recognisable over a century later. The company moved to Minden in 1929, where the manufacturing plant still operates today under the leadership of the Bentz family's descendants. ## Melitta at UK Supermarkets Grocefully helps you compare Melitta coffee filter prices at UK supermarkets including Tesco. Our comparison covers the original Melitta filter papers in various sizes including four-cup filters—the same quality design that has been helping coffee lovers brew perfect cups since 1908.