Coffee: Who was Melitta Bentz, inventor of the paper filter – 7/9/2023 – Market

Every morning, Melitta Bentz (1873-1950) had a cup of coffee. But with every sip, there was something that disturbed her.

The bitter taste and the rest of the ground grains stayed in your mouth and ended up harming that moment of pleasure.

Bentz, who was a housewife, decided to take action.

In her kitchen in Dresden, her hometown in Germany, she began experimenting to make drinking the drink —which was becoming increasingly popular in Europe—even more enjoyable.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Bentz one day tore a piece of paper from one of her children’s school notebooks and placed it in an old tin can with some holes she had made herself.

Then he added ground coffee, poured hot water and… voila!

The coffee flowed through the paper directly into the cup, forming a uniform liquid, without residues and much less bitter.

Melitta Bentz had created the world’s first coffee filter.

the early years

Visionary like few others of her time, Bentz tested her invention with her closest friends, organizing “coffee afternoons”.

It was so successful that, in 1908, she patented the filter and opened, in partnership with her husband Hugo Bentz, a company in the Dresden Board of Trade for the production and sale of filters.

Convinced that she had a unique product, she visited every store, warehouse and trade show, showcasing her invention.

At the same time, he transformed the house into a veritable production workshop, using the five bedrooms of the house. And his own sons, named Willy and Horst, did the wheelbarrow deliveries.

In 1909 they sold over a thousand filters at the Leipzig Trade Fair in Germany. Five years later, Melitta Bentz had already become a real businesswoman, there was a strong demand for her filters.

The growing interest in the product made her decide to transfer her company to an old sawmill. Bentz hired 15 people and invested in big machines that helped speed up production.

But the German businesswoman’s ambitions were undermined by the outbreak of the First World War.

obstructed dream

Conflict divided the family when her husband and eldest son, Willy, were drafted into the German army.

With difficulties, Melitta Bentz was able to manage the company alone, which now needed to generate income for the whole family.

But the reduction in imports of coffee beans and the rationing of certain products, such as paper, made business difficult.

At a certain point, Bentz was unable to produce coffee filters and had to diversify its production, starting to sell cardboard boxes.

After the end of World War I, demand for the filters picked up again, and the business expanded again.

It was at that time that the businesswoman decided to offer a series of benefits to her employees, including a Christmas bonus, increased vacation days and a reduction of the workweek to five days.

The Second World War

But Melitta Bentz’s project would be interrupted again a few years later, with the Second World War.

In 1942, with Adolf Hitler in power, the manufacture of coffee filters was banned.

The Nazi regime forced Melitta Bentz to produce war items and provide military supplies. The factory began to collaborate directly with Hitler, as a National Socialist industry.

After the war, the company contributed to a social compensation program for victims of forced labor by the Nazis.

Melitta Bentz was only able to return to producing coffee filters in 1947.

But three years later, on June 29, 1950, the businesswoman died at the age of 77.

solid legacy

After Melitta Bentz’s death, her children continued the company.

In 1959, they built a new factory in the city of Minden, Germany, which had the most advanced paper machine in Europe. The factory continues to operate to this day.

Over the years, they diversified into bags for vacuum cleaners and other household appliances.

Currently, the Melitta Group employs more than 5,000 people worldwide. The company’s latest reports, referring to the year 2021, indicate that its annual profits are more than US$ 2 billion (about R$ 9.7 billion).

This text was originally published here.