Melitta is a German-based company selling coffee, paper coffee filters, and coffee makers as part of the Melitta Group, which also has Melitta branches in other countries world-wide. 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.
Melitta have continued to improve and perfect the domestic coffee filter since their foundation through to the present day. Examples of some major advancements are the Natural Brown coffee filters, made from unbleached pulp which stop unwanted by-products from leaching into the environment, as well as their bamboo filters which were introduced in 2007. Melitta coffee filters are still some of the most popular on the market today.
Apart from in Germany, Melitta have a huge international presence, most notably in the United States. Melitta USA is has its headquarters in Clearwater, Florida.
As of 2015, Melitta Group KG employed over 3,300 people.
Melitta are also known for their award winning super automatic, bean to cup espresso machines. Some of their most popular super automatic coffee makers are the Melitta Barista TS Smart and the Melitta CI Touch. These are the first machines of their kind to be awarded the Quiet Mark seal of approval, due to their quiet and non-disruptive brewing process.