We have been there for 111 years – wherever passion is felt, tasted, lived and valued. Wherever enjoyment is the goal. Wherever people yearn for comfort, security, and reliability.
For 111 years we have been enhancing people’s enjoyment of coffee.
We started with the world’s first coffee filter in 1908. Today, our family
business is a multinational group with a wide variety of products, competencies,
markets and people.
For 111 years we have been building bridges between progress and tradition. With solid
foundations that bear us, and a vision that drives us forward. We are proud of our
achievements and curious about the future. Celebrate with us – and discover Melitta!
111 years of Melitta® also means: 111 years of taking responsibility for society, for our employees, for the environment and, of course, for our products.
Sustainability is firmly anchored in Melitta’s corporate values. We are convinced that business success is only sustainable if economic, ecological and social objectives can be reconciled with each other. Not least for this reason, we believe it is our responsibility to help find solutions for global challenges. We have therefore developed a Group-wide sustainability strategy based on the four pillars: Product and Supply Chain Responsibility, Environmental Responsibility, Social Responsibility and Responsibility for Employees. Our key areas of activity are to be found within the respective pillars.
to Sustainability
Where diversity lives. Where everything is possible - exciting stories about the company: enjoyment, tradition, sustainability and much more... 111 years Melitta.
Minden is our home and we feel deeply rooted in the East Westphalia region. It will therefore come as a surprise to some that our birthplace is actually Dresden: this is where in 1908 Melitta Bentz invented the method of filtering coffee with paper and founded a small business to produce the so-called original coffee filter – thus laying the foundation for today’s Melitta Group.
The small Dresden-based company expanded rapidly in its first 21 years.
Production capacities were soon exhausted. More and more people were
employed, more and more products were manufactured.
In 1929, Melitta Bentz and her husband made a historic decision: during a
trip from Dresden to Aachen, they stopped off in Minden and noticed a
former chocolate factory that offered ideal conditions for the company’s
future expansion. The fact that the city of Minden also offered them
attractive tax breaks helped seal the decision to relocate the business.
Without further ado, the complete inventory of machines and materials were
loaded into railway wagons and rebuilt in Minden.
The company “Melitta Bentz” was entered in the commercial register of the city
of Minden on March 28, 1929. Our 111th birthday is therefore just one reason
for us to celebrate. We are just as proud of the second reason: our close
ties with Minden and East Westphalia will be 90 years old in 2019.
Melitta North America and Melitta Professional Coffee Solutions USA will strengthen our
approach to our respective markets by aligning our efforts and products to form coffee
solutions that meet the needs of our customers in NA.
In recent years, Melitta North America's B2B business has grown strongly - an area in which
Melitta Professional Coffee Solutions has also experienced significant growth with it’s
innovative products.
Joint development of the market and coordinated support for major customers is a primary
focus for the future.
A lot has happened over the past 111 years – but one thing has remained: our commitment to
creating special moments in our everyday lives. Our products still focus on enjoyment,
comfort, trust and security – whether at home, on the road or in the café.
Here are some of the milestones in our eventful company history.
Over the past 111 years, our innovations have created numerous
new markets and set standards. Our latest coups: ffeel® and
wkup®.
ffeel® is the first natural refreshment that combines the invigorating
effect of cold brew coffee with the fresh taste of superfruits. wkup®,
on the other hand, is a coffee shot – a concentrated hit of caffeine
to wake and invigorate tired bodies. Both products are aimed in
particular at a younger audience and expand our range of trendy and
pioneering products. ffeel® and wkup®
received the German Innovation Award in 2018 for their outstanding
innovative character.
100 trees for every year of company history: to celebrate our 111th anniversary, we’re planting a forest in Tanzania together with the social business initiative Treedom. The 11,100 trees in total will be planted by local small farmers in agroforestry systems; and anyone who wants to win a sponsorship for a tree, can take part in an online game.
Tanzania has been an important coffee growing region for us for many years now. Our anniversary campaign aims to make a contribution to the ecological balance in this region.
As our company’s decisions have always been guided by considerations spanning more than just the current generation of owners, sustainability has a special significance for us. For many years now, we have therefore been supporting regions in which we do business and where our efforts can achieve targeted ecological and social improvements.
