The stimulating effect of the processed berry of the coffea arabica shrub has been appealing to people since the first millennium BC. These plants originate from the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia and the harvest began to be traded and spread in popularity from Yemen and the near east to Turkey and later western Europe with first records of coffee in Venice in the early 17th century. By the 18th century coffee was a much sought after beverage and coffee houses in the main cities of Europe were significant places to meet and carry out business; Lloyds of London shipping insurance has its origins in Lloyds Coffee House in 1688, offering guarantees to risky merchant enterprise.
Through the history of coffee consumption human ingenuity has been applied to how best to extract the flavours and oils from the ground up roasted beans and separating these from the unpalatable, woody bean. This is possible to achieve by simple manual means if you don’t mind a little bit of sediment (e.g. Turkish coffee). Beyond this, many inventive minds have applied themselves to designing apparatus for this task of separating the coffee liquid and the residue coffee grounds – including various siphons and physical filters. The development of the cafetiere is the story of one method of separation.
Cafetière à piston
Cafetière is a French noun for a general coffeemaker that has come to be associated with a type of infusion coffeemaker where the coffee grounds are added to hot water, brewed for 3 or 4 minutes and then separated using a filter disc at the end of a plunger rod.
In France the proper name is cafetière à piston and the British usage of the word ‘cafetiere’ for this type of coffee maker is most likely after the brand La Cafetière which started selling these coffeemakers from 1967 onwards in the UK and Australia, primarily. As the popularity of cafetieres has grown, especially since the late 1980s, it has come to have many different names including ‘plunger pot’, ‘coffee plunger’ and most widely ‘French press’ in North America.
The origins the cafetiere can certainly be traced back to France, with an 1852 patent registered in Paris for a ‘cafetière à pression’. However, devising a piston that separated the coffee grounds efficiently was only fully achieved in 1934, marked by the registration of a patent for a ‘caffettiera’ in Italy – the result of a series of patents connected to the Moneta company of Milan that perfected the seal between the edge of the filter disc and the wall of the coffee pot.
Whilst the critical innovation and first commercial success came in Italy, the post second world war development of the cafetiere was in France, where heatproof glass was first used and the well-known lantern like design of a glass cylinder, held in vertical metal bands and a domed lid was first produced.
An AI generated drawing from the words “French press” – a typical rendering of a cafetiere
In the beginning – a cafetiere foundation myth
Like all the best ideas, the cafetiere has its own foundation myth that provides a sort of just so story about how a problem with sediment in the coffee was solved. The story goes like this…
… an old Frenchman took a daily walk to escape his nagging wife. He took with him a coffee pot to brew coffee over an open fire. On one occasion he forgot to add the coffee until after the water had begun to boil and the grounds would not settle, making for an unpleasant drink, full of sediment. By a stroke of good fortune, an Italian merchant was passing by, who had with him a metal mesh screen. The old man bought a small section of the screen, fitted it inside the pot and using a stick, pushed the grounds to the bottom. The two men shared the coffee and agreed it was the best they had ever tasted… they decided to open a small factory; the beginnings of the piston coffeemaker …
The story captures the imagination, and some details appear to prefigure actual historic records of a patent for “une cafetière a pression et filtrage instantaner” (a coffee press with fast filtering) filed in Paris by Henri-Otto Mayer and Jacques-Victor Delforge on March 27th 1852 [ref.]. However, this first filter design used cloth as the filter and use of wire mesh is only recorded in 1929 – the story of the old man is most likely an invention!
Mayer and Delforge cafetière a pression, 1852
The patent diagram clearly shows a coffee-pot with a plunger device, and the benefit of this coffeemaker was the same as today; a fast and simple method of separating the unpalatable coffee grounds from the infusion. The only issue with this ‘cafetiere a pression’ is that it probably did not work very well. The critical element of a cafetiere is the filter, what it is made of and how well it separates the sediment from the coffee. The Mayer Delforge patent only refers to ‘flannel’ or some form of suitable filtering cloth and there was no means described of ensuring a good seal between the filter disc and the walls of the coffee pot. As a result, it is likely that an excessive amount of sediment will have escaped the seal, resulting in a rather gritty cup of coffee, full of sediment.
.
Image extract of Cafetière à pression
et à filtrage instantanés
Patent number 13301
Mayer, Delforge registered 27.03.1852
Other similar piston coffeemaker inventions
The idea of using a filter to make the preparation of coffee simpler has attracted numerous inventors and an exploration of Google Patents relating to improvements to coffee and tea pots lists over 24 inventions between 1877 and 1923. Notable among these are several piston coffeemakers; in around 1913 there is ‘Caféolette’ for making café au lait invented by Frenchman Louis Forest [See illustration]. Forest invests considerable effort in popularising his method of coffeemaking and publishes a booklet entitled, “L’Art de faire le Café au lait a l’Ancienne – subtitled “A L’aide de la Caféolette Louis Forest”.
Caféolette – inventor Louis Forest c. 1913
In 1924 another Frenchman, Marcel-Pierre Paquet (known as Jolbert) Ref, published a patent for a “filter press for tea, coffee and all infusions”. The patent diagrams show a very elegant coffee pot incorporating a piston with a series of three interlocking and pierced filter discs, a little like today’s cafetieres. The filter itself is described as being made using silk. Similar to the earlier Mayer and Delforge patent there is no means to ensure a close fit of the filter disc with the wall of the container to stop coffee grounds or tea leaves escaping into the liquid infusion.
Image extract from
Filtre-presseur a cafe, the et toutes infusions
Patent number FR 575729 A
Paquet registered 11.01.1923
Italy and the invention of espresso coffee
In 1884 Angelo Moriondo [Ref] of Turin is granted a patent for a “new steam machinery for the economic and instantaneous confection of coffee beverage.” This is generally regarded as the first patent for an espresso machine, with further improvements by Luigi Bezzerra and Desiderio Pavoni patented in Milan 1903. These patents were originally intended as a means to speed up the coffee making process and in fact created a whole new style of coffee – espresso. These early espresso machines helped establish the commercial retailing of coffee in coffee shops and cafes and mark the beginnings of Italian coffee culture.
Bezzera espresso coffee machine exhibited at the Milan International Fair in 1906 [credit www.bezzera.it/en/bezzera#history]
Benito Mussolini and the perfection of the first piston filter coffee pots
With the development of espresso machines coffee shops became an integral part of Italian society, so much so that Mussolini imposed a tax on these machines in public bars from 1927 onwards with the aim of reducing gatherings in cafes through increased prices. The effect was to encourage coffeemaking at home with various contraptions including the Neapolitana, inversion coffeemaker, invented in the nineteenth century (again by a Frenchman) [Ref]. Discouraging coffee bars also encouraged innovation, with two famous coffeemakers invented at around the same time; a stove top coffeemaker launched by Alfonso Bialetti & Co in 1933, eventually becoming famous as the Moka Express in the 1950’s [Ref]. And a piston coffeemaker, with a patent first registered by Attilio Calimani and Giulio Moneta [Ref] in 1929 for ‘apparatus for preparing infusions, particularly for preparing coffee.’ This is the starting point for the modern cafetiere or caffettiera.
Bar Caffè Giubbe Rosse, Florence, early 20th century [credit https://earthstoriez.com]
Moneta Company of Milan and the Melior Patent caffettiera
In 1885 an Italian called Giuseppe Moneta started a company in Milan (Ditta Giuseppe Moneta) making metal housewares which continues to this day as the Moneta brand of cookware (part of the Italian Allufon Group since 1986) [Ref]. In 1927 his two sons Alessandro and Giulio Moneta became managing directors of the Moneta company on the death of their father. Soon after this date Giulio Moneta appears to have taken an interest in designing a coffeemaker for the home preparation of coffee. Early patent descriptions are registered to Attilio Calimani and Giulio Moneta, they also refer to Ugo Paglini as assignor who may have given rights to or sold his idea to the Moneta company (previously sig. Paglini had patented a tomato press in a French registered patent of 1922).
The first registered patent for an infusion coffeemaker of 2nd April 1929 is registered to Attilio Calimani and Giulio Moneta, it is barely an improvement on the earlier Jolbert design (which they may or may not have been aware of) with the main difference being the inclusion of a ‘coiled spring’ that helped to maintain the position of the plunger rod in the pot. The filter itself is only described loosely as ‘a rigid perforated screen.’
Image extract from
Improvements in coffee pots
Patent number UK 308,993
Ugo Paolini assignor of one half to Attilio Calimani and one half to Giulio Moneta
Application registered 02.04.1929
Original Italian application registered 02.04.1928
They appear to have been dissatisfied with this design as later in the year a second patent is registered on 27th October in Germany [7] where the filter has been redesigned as a sort of round cassette. These early designs did not include a way of ensuring a seal between the edge of the filter part and the wall of the cafetiere. However, the designers clearly had a degree of confidence in the potential of the coffeemaker and continued filing patents of improved versions.
Image extract from
Device for preparing infusions, especially coffee drinks
Patent number DE 537 714
Attilio Calimani and Giulio Moneta
Application registered 27.10.1929
On November 25th, 1931, an application is made in France by Calimani and Moneta [Ref] and in this design changes are made to the round cassette filter assembly, with an addition of a groove around the periphery of the cassette in which a rubber ring is placed to act like a type of O-ring seal:
Image extract from
Apparatus for the Preparation and Quick Filtration of Infusions and especially Coffee
Patent number FR 726 878
Attilio Calimani and Giulio Moneta
Application registered 25.11.1931
“The invention consists in providing the piston-like filter around its periphery with resiliently deformable sealing means, such as one or more split rings of any form, or a helically coiled spring or the like, or a solid or hollow rubber ring or rings, which prevent liquid from leaking past the periphery of the filter and permit the filter to be pressed down by a moderate amount of force.”
This design appears to have worked moderately well as there is advertising and surviving examples of Moneta caffettiera using this filter system.
Image extract
1932 newspaper advert
The name given to this coffeemaker made use of the nominative form of the Latin word for ‘better’; Melior. On 17th July 1929 Calimani and Moneta, publish the MELIOR trademark in Les Marques Internationales [ref], as a brand for ‘receptacles for boiling milk and suchlike’. The Melior brand soon became famous for a type of coffeemaker pre-war; and by the end of the twentieth century Melior was a byword for cafetieres in many countries. It is still a trademark of Bodum (PI Design-AG).
Image extract from Les Marques Internationales 17th July 1929
Recepticles for boiling milk and suchlike
TN number 64597
Attilio Calimani and Giulio Moneta
Application registered18.02.1929
.
Only in 1934 was the problem of the leaky seal was finally solved with a later patent registered on 2nd March 1934. The application was made by Gemma Barelli Moneta [Ref] for “an improved filter for filtering coffee or other infusions or liquids.” Later in 1936 a very similar patent application is registered with the US patents office by and Bruno Cassol. The applicants were both intimately connected to the Moneta family; Gemma Moneta was the wife of Giulio Moneta and Bruno Cassol the family driver. Their involvement with the later innovation is unclear; whether they were involved in the practical design development and were the inventors or whether they made registrations as convenient representatives for the the company for some other reason (to do with individual ownership? or tax efficiency?* Whatever the reason, the later patents were to the benefit of the Moneta company of Milan
(*Personal communication with Paulo Moneta, 2024)
Image extract from
Improved Filter for Filtering Coffee or other Infusions or Lliquids
Patent number GB 448 883
Gemma Barelli Moneta
Application registered 27.12.1934
Convention date Italy 2.3.1934
Image extract from
Apparatus for Filtration of Infusions
Patent number USA 2,053,021
Bruno Cassol
Application registered 26.2.1935
Assignor to Gemma Barelli Moneta (transferring his rights to Gemma Moneta)
The 1934 Gemma Barelli Moneta and Bruno Cassol patents – the invention of the modern cafetiere filter
The 1934 patent fully describes and illustrates the modern cafetiere filter arrangement; two pierced circular discs ‘sandwich’ a wire gauze, the outer edge of the gauze is held against the wall of the cafetiere using a spring which is threaded through tiny holes around the periphery of the upper disc and this forms the seal which prevents sediment escaping with far more efficiency than previous designs.
This new filter arrangement is both brilliant and simple, it uses the properties of a spring that can compress and expand to its usual state – not just from one end to the other, but also along its length at each coil. By threading a spring in and out of holes around the perimeter of the filter disc, the edge of the filter can expand and contract to conform to the inside of a coffeepot cylinder as the plunger rod goes up and down. When wrapped with a wire gauze, the filter maintains an efficient seal preventing sediment from escaping into the coffee liquid. The patent diagram is a diagram of the modern cafetiere filter system. Problem solved.
Image extract from similar patent applications
Patent number GB 448 883 (Gemma Barelli Moneta) 27.12.1934
Patent number USA 2,053,021 (Bruno Cassol) 26.2.1935
Convention date Italy 2.3.1934
In this patent it is also noted that glass or ceramic is to be considered an ideal material for their product,
“In the particular case of the preparation of coffee, it is known that it is advantageous to use vessels constructed of vitreous or ceramic materials in preference to metallic vessels.”
The Moneta company made caffettiera in both metal and ceramic, however, the use of heatproof glass was not realised until 1950, after a world war and a change of Melior brand ownership to a French company.
Newspaper adverts for Pyrex France 1932
1930’s success of the Melior Patent caffettiera – ‘The Coffeemaker That Triumphs All Over The World’
The Giuseppe Moneta Company owned Melior brand of goods was marketed in Italy and in some European markets (France, UK) as well as north Africa from the early 1930’s. The brand range included various household items notably the Melior Patent Caffettiera and also grill pans. There are newspaper advertisements for the caffettiera in France as early as 1932 offering the product for sale and also seeking agents to sell this new type of coffeemaker. Melior Patent caffettieras were clearly successful and in 1935 a postcard proudly declares, ‘Melior Patent. La caffettiera che trionfa in tutto il mondo’ – the cafetiere that triumphs all over the world.
A Melior price list from 1941 illustrates the caffettiera product range that include 44 variants in different materials and product sizes. Metal versions were in nickel or chrome plated brass and tin and there was also a silver-plated coffeemaker. Ceramic versions were in simple brown earthenware and also different patterns of porcelain. The sizes of the caffettieras were measured in cups, just as todays cafetieres with 1, 2, 4, 6 8, 10 and 12 cup versions – and possibly the starting point for some confusion about just what a cup is. Melior Patent coffeemakers were sold in the UK during the 1930s, with Booths of Tunstall (Stoke-on Trent) making ceramic forms and silverplate versions being manufactured under licence as surviving examples are marked as ‘Made in England.’
However, the Melior Patent caffettiera of the 1930’s in its overall appearance and form does not look like todays cafetieres; the pronounced spout, use of metal or ceramic and a broader or shorter appearance looks distinctly different from a typical modern cafetiere, usually made from heatproof glass held in a framework of metal or plastic. The appearance of these ‘form factors’ happens later in the early 1950’s.
Moneta and Italy in turmoil 1943 -1945: heroism, loss and escape
The Melior Caffettiera was invented during the time of the National Republican State of Italy (1922-43) and may even have been in response to Mussolini’s tax on coffee machines in commercial premises. The nature of Italy’s fascist state was different to that of Germany and whilst not especially tolerant of Jews, there was an accommodation. In July 1943 Benito Mussolini’s government was overthrown and in response Germany seized control, rescued Mussolini from captivity, and installed him as leader of a puppet government commonly known as Repubblica di Salò in northern and central Italy from September 1943. This change in regime added a further terrible impact of war on many including those closely connected with the Moneta company.
Alessandro Moneta (1883-1945), the brother of Giulio is listed in the Room of Names commemorating the dead of Mauthausen Concentration Camp [Ref]; he died in Gusen on January 20th 1945. Alessandro Moneta was arrested for offering hiding places to Jews in the giving assistance to Jews, in the Moneta factory and country residence.
Credit image Wikipedia
Bruno Cassol, who registered a later 1936 USA patent and is recorded as inventor, was employed as a Moneta family driver. He died in a car accident in 1944 whist driving one of Giulio’s sons between the factory in Milan and the family residence in Varese. He was very close to the family, and his two daughters were offered employment by the company to give them a more certain economic future*.
*Personal communication with Paulo Moneta, 2024)
A newspaper report of the accident from 13th December 1944.
Attilio Calimani who registered the first patents with Giulio Moneta in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, was Jewish, and Prefecture of Milan records show that his property was confiscated in January of 1944 with a revocation in June of the same year, the reason given was that the assets were registered in the name of his wife. On 5th January 1944 Attilio Calimani escaped Italy for Switzerland when his arrival as a refugee is recorded.
Record extract from www.ushmm.org
Post 1945 – Melior brand and product manufacturing rights are sold to a French company Société de Façonnage et de Commerce (SFC)
Soon after the Second World War, there was a reorganisation of the Moneta company, and the Melior brand caffettiera and cooking grill business was sold. The exact reasons for the sale are unclear but the effect of the sale was to streamline the company’s manufacturing back towards metal products including enamel pots & plates, road signs, military helmets and car parts*.
Milan trademark registrations show a renewal of the Melior trademark on 8th January 1944, however, by 1948 Melior cafetieres and cooking grills are being advertised in France by a company called Société de Façonnage et de Commerce (SFC) with a Paris office at 2 rue Dunois in the 13eme quarter.
From 1948 onwards there is French newspaper advertising for two Melior brand products, cafetieres and cooking grills. These resemble the caffettiera and grills first made and sold by the Moneta company until the mid 1940’s. The advertising refers back to the previous popularity of the cafetiere by stating ‘as before the war’ or ‘comme avant guerre’.
* Personal communication with Paulo Moneta
Le Figaro newspaper advert from 27th December, 1948
Elle L’Hebdomadaire de la Femme magazine 19th February 1951
There appears to be active and substantial investment in these Melior products by the new owners SFC, with advertising in various different periodicals including Elle L’Hebdomadaire (now better known as Elle) and national newspapers including Le Figaro. These marketing campaigns include offering free recipe booklets by return of postal requests. There is also investment in the products themselves with improvements made to the cooking grills (a patent for a grill lid, October 1953 registered by a certain Faliero Bondanini); and most significantly for the history of the cafetiere, is an advertisement for the first Pyrex glass version of the Melior cafetiere in 1951 which was to evolve into the form that can be recognised in today’s cafetieres.
The first Pyrex glass model of the Melior cafetiere appears to be very similar in form to the previous ceramic and metal models with a large spout and elaborate handle. This first model must have had a short lifespan as a second model of Melior Pyrex glass cafetiere is also advertised in 1951.
Extract from France Illustration March 1951 [Ref]
This second Pyrex model looks more like today’s cafetieres and contains many recognisable features of the familiar cafetiere form: a tall glass body, set in a chrome framework, a simple C-shaped handle and a step-domed lid with a plunger rod emerging from the top. At its base, the cafetiere is held in a sort of metal cup, indicating that at first the designers wanted to ensure good protection for the glass body.
Extract from La France a Table 1st December, 1951 [Ref]
Image of Melior Patents Pyrex 1951 – c. 1959
A similar looking Melior cafetiere was produced using Schott Jena heatproof glass with a shallow domed lid and open handle similar to Moka pots, and this was sold until around 1957.
In addition to glass models, by 1955 there is advertising for a new aluminium body version of Melior cafetiere called ‘Club’ and this addition to the range may have been to provide an alternative to the aluminium bodied Moka Express which was rapidly growing in popularity. The ‘Club’ cafetiere appears to have been short-lived. However, later in the 1970’s the ‘Club’ name was reused for a plastic and glass model cafetiere that was presumably more affordable.
Image of Melior Patent cafetière
made with Jena Shott heatproof
glass c. 1956
Image of advertisement for Melior Club
aluminium cafetière c. 1955
A third Pyrex model is advertised from 1959 or a little before and this updates the Pyrex design with the entire glass body being supported by a more elegant chrome framework consisting of four vertical bands that cross beneath the base of the cafetiere and formed into loops that act as ‘feet’. This model also had a C-shaped handle and a step domed lid as before and the plunger rod was now topped by a spherical knob. This cafetiere is branded as Melior Patents Pyrex on the glass and advertised with a new sub brand name of ‘Chambord’ after the renaissance Château de Chambord. In France ‘Chambord’ has been a byword for quality and opulence associated with the elaborate construction of King Francis I’s hunting lodge completed in 1547. The appearance of the cafetiere looks a little like the roof lanterns on the castle conical towers, perhaps also prompting the name.
Melior Chambord advertising c. 1959
Image of Melior Chambord from 1959
The later development of Melior Chambord circa 1963
Later in around 1963 this Chambord model was updated to have a smooth domed rather than step-domed lid. During the 1970’s the Chambord name was no longer used for Melior cafetieres, but the name did re-emerge for versions of the cafetiere made in plastic in the 1980’s. In August 1991, Bodum, part of PI Design-AG acquired the Melior business, and the Chambord brand name was once again used to differentiate Bodum Chambord from its other cafetiere coffeemakers, with the Melior brand being used for a selection of other products.
Image of Melior Chambord from 1963
The role of Faliero Bondanini in the development of the cafetiere between 1933 and 1985
In an account of the history of Melior cafetières there is a brief description of how a Swiss Italian called Faliero Bondanini (b.1907- d.1987) attended the fifth international Triennale exhibition in Milan of 1933 and came across the first Moneta Melior caffettiera, which must have ignited his interest in this type of coffeemaker. The exhibition was mostly a showcase for grand architecture, however there may well have been smaller related exhibitions for other innovations where Melior Caffettieras may well have been showcased, as these new coffeemakers originated in Milan and were being sold by Moneta as Melior Caffettiera at this time.
Image extract of poster for 5e Trienniale di Milano
Image extract from
Couvercle pour utensils de cuisine
Patent number CH 309 873
Faliero Bondanini
Application registered 14.10.1953
An exploration of historic patent registrations reveals that Faliero Bondanini was an inventor/ designer of Lausanne, Switzerland with around 50 patent registrations in a career spanning from 1935 to 1984; first for ‘electric pressing irons’ and his last a Japan patent registration for ‘a filter for a coffee percolator.’
Bondanini’s patent filing activity includes some diverse household items: a cooking grill in 1947, a device for putting an egg in patisserie in 1949, a floor mop in 1950 and a tray for germinating seeds in 1953. It is difficult to imagine an inventor with such diverse interests and it seems more likely that he was some sort of product designer offering his services to client companies. The 1947 cooking grill registration was followed by two 1953 registrations for an improved cooking grill and a lid for a cooking grill. These closely resemble a Melior ‘gril four’ which was often advertised alongside SFC’s other significant product, the Melior cafetiere. It appears that Faliero Bondanini was working in some capacity with Société de Façonnage et de Commerce (SFC) and Melior brand products.
A 1950s patent registered by Faliero Bondanini for a cafetiere filter
Many accounts of the development of the cafetiere attribute final later design improvements to Faliero Bondanini based on a USA patent published in 1959. [Ref]
Earlier than this, in 1955, Faliero Bondanini made a series of patent registrations in Switzerland, France and the UK for Apparatus for the preparation and the filtration of infusions [Ref]. These registrations are some time later than the existence of the heatproof glass Melior Patents Pyrex cafetiere of 1952.
Faliero Bondanini’s improvement is most clearly characterised by a series of metal ‘tongues’ around the perimeter of the filter disc, that are intended to ensure the filter mesh is held against the coffeepot wall, to prevent sediment escaping. This improvement essentially replaces the need for a coiled spring around the filter disc of the Moneta-Cassol filter registered in Italy in March 1934 [Ref]
Detail from patent drawing showing the ‘free flexible tongues’
Image extract from: Coffee Filter Pot
Patent number US 2,900,896
Faliero Bondanini
Application registered 16.7.1957 patented 25.8.1959
Application Switzerland 25.02.1955
The use of ‘tongues’ is a clear, distinctive and inventive feature described in this 1955 patent registration. However, it’s a feature that does not appear to have been used in cafetiere filter design in the 1950’s or at any time since. Or if the design has been manufactured it failed to supersede the Moneta-Cassol filter, that is still the most common filter arrangement in use today.
Gemma Moneta Swiss patent drawing 1934
A modern replacement filter section
A 1950s mystery to solve …
Why this patent was filed is a little mysterious as a perfectly good filter design was already present in Melior cafetieres and these were never replaced with a ‘new improved’ design using metal tongues instead of a coiled spring around the periphery of the filter.
Melior cafetieres of he 1950’s had ‘Melior Patents Pyrex’ boldly printed on the coffeemaker glass and a patent protectable design was clearly important to the manufacturers. However, by the 1950’s Pyrex was not protected by patent and nor was the Gemma Moneta and Bruno Cassol patent of 1934; the US patent registration of US8390A expired on 1st September 1953. Was the Faliero Bondanini patent filed to extend protection for Melior cafetieres? If so, the only flaw in the strategy seems to be that the later design was never used, but may well have served to provide ‘patent cover’ especially as patent gazettes only gave brief details and no drawings, such that potential competitors may have assumed that the key component of the Melior cafetiere was protected when in fact, it was not!
Faliero Bondanini is an influential figure in the development of the glass Melior Chambord cafetiere
To pick up the story again, Société de Façonnage et de Commerce (SFC) acquired the Melior business form the Moneta company in around 1948 and advertised Melior brand cooking grills and cafetieres in French publications from that date.
From the late 1950’s there are references to another company, Martin SA or to give its full name Société Anonyme Des Anciens Établissements Martin which was closely connected to SFC and became the owner of the Melior business (SFC was legally ‘absorbed’ into Martin SA in 1983).
With a little further exploration, it’s possible to identify the location of the SFC/ Martin SA factory as the village of Velaines near Bar-le-Duc, 240km to the east of Paris. Here a range of different products were manufactured listed in a contemporary economic review as, musical instruments (clarinets), cooking grills, cafetières, world maps and re-packaging glue for the French market (a then famous brand originating from Belfast, ‘Seccotine’).
Extract from Revue Géographique de l’Est Vol 1 No 4, October to December 1961, superimposed on photo of Velaines factory from 2024.
It is unclear what role Faliero Bondanini served with Martin SA in the 1950s or the exact relationship with the then parent organisation SFC. However, it appears that he was closely involved in the design, manufacturing and marketing of the first heatproof glass cafetiere designs, known first as Melior Patents Pyrex and by 1959 given an additional name of Chambord.
A Melior Gril Four recipe booklet printed in Switzerland from 1952 illustrates the connection between Melior Gril Fours and cafetières and Faliero Bondanini. The booklet celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Melior Gril, presumably referring to an original design by the Moneta company of Milan in 1932. The passage describes the mission since 1932 has been to promote healthy cooking by preserving vital nutrients and making food easier to digest through avoiding excess fats. It concludes with a quote from Dr. Raoul Blondel, stating that good cooking should be both a science (healthy and balanced) and an art (pleasurable and joyful ).
Towards the back of the recipe booklet there are pages that describe the other Melior product, the cafetière. The text describes a coffee conference in California where concerns about the quality of coffee at the time were aired.
Note the cartoon and reference to a nineteenth century gastronome Brillat-Savarin which translates as:
“The mistress of the house must always make sure that the coffee is excellent, and the master that the liqueurs are of the first choice.”
Whilst the Brillat-Savarin reference would not be made today, this reference connects this booklet to the advertising activity of SFC, which also makes use of the epithets of the gastronome Brillat-Savarin. (The following example from 1952).
The text goes on to present the Melior cafetière in its best light, translated as follows:
“If the MELIOR coffee maker is a little marvel of simplicity (no paper filter, speed, hot coffee is well dosed), it requires some care and above all cleanliness. An exact instruction manual can be found with each coffee maker, but will be sent free of charge on request to the manufacturer: Établissement F. Bondanini, rue Neuve 10-12-14, Renens near Lausanne (Switzerland).”
Melior SA – a Swiss manufacturer of cafetieres and cooking grills
The relationship between Faliero Bondanini and SFC/ Martin SA lasted until 1963 when he set up his own company in Lausanne, Switzerland. He had legal rights to use the Melior name and his own company was registered as Melior SA, also selling cafetieres and cooking grills. Bondanini and his son Mario are recorded in a business periodical ‘Opera Mundi Europe’ (October 1965) as having a well-known cooking grill and cafetiere business.
Patent registrations filed by Faliero Bondanini in the 1960s and 1970s are mostly connected to technical improvements for cooking grills. There are also examples of recipe books for barbecuing and grilling – an indication that Melior SA had a more active commercial interest in the newly fashionable activity of barbecuing.
Imagery of Melior SA (Switzerland) products and printed materials c. 1970’s and later
There is also a continued interest in cafetieres with a registered patent for improvements to the filter design in February 1975. In this patent the different components of the filter set a reduced to a single piece and the ‘tongues’ may be made in plastic with a nylon mesh filter. The single piece was intended to save time when the user was cleaning the filter and would also reduce manufacturing cost. However, there are few indications that this filter was ever successfully marketed . As late as 1984 there is a a Japanese registration for ‘A filter for the filtering and preparation of infusions’ renewing the 1975 application, this was just before his death in 1987.
Image extract from: Filter for infusion apparatus
Patent number FR 2 300 532
Faliero Bondanini
Application registered 13.02.1975
Faliero Bondanini clearly deserves his reputation as a later driving force in the development of the cafetiere, overseeing the change from metal or ceramic cafetieres to heatproof glass in the 1950’s and active in the development of the most famous cafetiere design, Chambord.
1965 The Ipcress File, Michael Caine and fame for the cafetiere?
In the opening scenes of the Ipcress File Harry Palmer is seen preparing fresh coffee using an electric grinder and a coffeemaker that looks very much like a cafetiere.
Image from The Ipcress File 1965
The coffeemaker is actually an American Boonton Insta-Brewer (patent filed April 1965, US3307474A) that was similar to a cafetiere, but the filter mechanism also included a device for removing the spent coffee grounds at the end of the operation.
The 1970’s – the rise of convenience and affordable kitchen electricals
However, it seems that it was the electric coffee grinder also shown in the Ipcress File was most indicative of future trends, as during the late 1960’s and into the 1980’s timesaving, small kitchen electricals were more in vogue than manual devices. The 1970’s saw the rising popularity of electric percolators, electric filter machines and the cafetiere became a more niche product for enthusiasts rather than the mainstream, a product for small ads and specialist retailers.
In France and Italy, the countries of origin of the cafetiere, they declined in favour almost completely for different reasons; in the case of Italy because of the success of the Bialetti Moka pot becoming the nations favourite coffeemaker. And in the case of France, electric coffee machines that incorporated the function of heating water were far more convenient as the majority of households did not possess an electric kettle.
By the mid 1970’s there were a handful of brands selling cafetieres including Melior France with international sales in the USA and UK, La Cafetiere with a similar coffeepot mostly selling in the UK and Australia and also the Bondaninis’ Melior SA with sales in Germany and Switzerland. The Boonton Insta-Brewer seems to have stopped production before the end of the 1970’s. Significantly, in 1974 Bodum the Danish housewares company launched its first cafetiere; the Bodum Bistro.
Image of a La Cafetiere model c. 1990
In 1967 the brand La Cafetiere was first established, and this sold very similar cafetieres to
Melior Chambord in the UK and Australia, presumably by agreement with SFC/ Martin SA.
Image of an electric filter coffeemaker in a French advert from 1970
Melior and Bodum Bistro, advertised in Lakeland Ledger 1979 (Florida USA)
The 1980’s and a renaissance for the cafetiere
In the early 1980’s consumers who enjoyed coffee would most likely choose instant coffee for everyday convenience and some also enjoying the superior quality of electric filter or percolator coffee on occasion. The instant coffee brands were major advertisers and storylines and taglines of TV adverts could hold the attention of the nation (the Nescafe Gold Blend couple in the UK, Maxwell House ‘good to the last drop’ tagline in the USA).
Whilst instant still dominates the commercial exploitation of coffee, there have been a series of waves in the evolution of coffee consumption; the First Wave being increasing accessibility and convenience (instant coffee to electric filters and percolators). The development of ‘coffee shop culture’ and the emphasis on quality and speciality beverages is described as the Second Wave, a key, moment was on 30th March 1971 when Starbucks opened its first speciality store in Seattle, then only retailing coffee beans. The revolution started slowly with 6 Starbucks stores in Seattle by1986 and expansion outside of the city in 1987. By comparison, Costa Coffee in the UK opened its first coffee shop in London in 1981, expanding out of its roastery business started in 1971.
The growth of coffee shops and quality coffee during the 1980’s indicate growing consumer tastes for fresh quality coffee or ‘real coffee’. In an article dated January 16th 1986, the Los Angeles Times reviews two types of coffeemaker; an electric espresso maker (Vivalp V50 Espresso Plus) and the Melior manual coffeemaker. The article indicates that this style of coffeemaker is increasingly popular, and also assumes little prior knowledge among its readers:
The operation is fuss-free: Place the desired amount of ground coffee into the cylinder, add the appropriate amount of boiling water and allow to steep for 3 to 5 minutes (depending upon taste for weaker or stronger coffee). Then slowly depress the plunger to the bottom. The fine-mesh screen separates the coffee grounds from the drink, which, by this time, has all the flavor and aroma you would want in your coffee.”
Interestingly, the Melior coffeemaker is not referred to as a ‘French press’ at this date, although it is closely connected to France. Melior cafetieres had ‘Made in France’ prominently marked on the glass beaker at this time and perhaps ‘French press’ became a general reference for this type of coffeemaker sometime after 1986 simply because ‘Made France’ was written on the glass?
The 1990’s and an explosion in growth of quality coffee, coffee shops, capsule machines … and cafetières too
The growth of coffee shops rose sharply during the 1980’s and by 1992, Starbucks had 140 outlets in the USA and Costa Coffee 41 stores in the UK.
Consumer appetite for coffee made from beans at home and in the workplace was also growing rapidly with Melior and Bodum becoming very well known in the USA and La Cafetiere and Bodum in the UK. In August 1991 the parent company of Bodum bought the Melior business from Martin SA. The well-known Melior glass cafetiere once again took on the ‘Chambord’ name to differentiate it from Bodum’s other cafetiere coffeemakers. The Melior trademark remained in use for Bodum coffee and tea related products in some markets including the USA.
In the 21st century the trend has been further towards quality, artisanal craft, traceability and sustainability (the Third Wave). Coffee shops and outlets have become one of the most common hospitality activities in urban areas. In addition to this has been the growth of a new segment, coffee capsule or pod machines. Nespresso, founded in 1986, grew slowly during the latter part of the 20th century to being in roughly a quarter of UK households today.
The popularity of the cafetiere or French press continues despite the inroads made by the widespread availability of coffee shops and a wide array of different manual coffeemakers and machines. Whilst there may have been a foreseeable decline in the cafetiere it seems that it still retains a strong following for being a simple and affordable means of making fresh coffee from your own choice of beans or ground coffee.
The cafetiere sector appears to be in rude health with a proliferation of different brands and models, almost all making good use of the 1934 Gemma Moneta/ Bruno Cassol filter design.
The strength and impact of this filter design is such that innovation at the functioning heart of the cafetiere has been modest. There have been suggested improvements; including Falierio Bondanini’s 1955 patent application and a plastic version of the same in 1975. Today there are a few models with all-plastic filter sets. Stainless steel has also become more popular for the body of thew cafetiere with its benefits of some heat insulation and robustness – this is despite the advantage of glass or ceramic in not affecting taste, as mentioned in the 1934 patent.
Cafetiere French presses … the problem of cleaning
Cafetieres have many advantages – a simple, quick way of making good quality full-flavoured coffee at little cost. The user can choose their coffee, how much and how long to brew, albeit there is plenty of advice out there on the perfect way to do it. Cafetieres are inexpensive, the manufacturing environmental footprint is small and you can take them anywhere.
The major inconvenience of cafetieres is cleaning them after use, and there has been innovation aimed at solving the problem of mess. The 1964 Boonton Insta-Brewer incorporated a device to lift out the grounds after use (a disc below the filter disc). Today Espro brand has a filter basket rather than a disc, that incorporates the grounds. La Cafetiere have a model with a removeable base allowing the waste to be pushed out of the bottom and into the compost food bin.
This history has been sponsored by Scoof
The author’s interest in the cafetiere started with thinking about a way to solve the main drawback of cafetieres – to his mind cleaning was a real pain point. Rather than changing the cafetiere itself, an object that works very well, I devised a utensil that takes advantage of the cylindrical shape of the cafetiere. Scoof is a scoop that is rotated within the cafetiere to collect the waste into a sort of 2 bladed propellor. The blades have raised sides to collect the grounds like a spoon and the edges can be used to simply rake out the remains from the cafetiere. In addition, because Scoof is a sort of propellor, the same tool is ideal for preparing and stirring the coffee – and stirred coffee results in more flavour being infused into the drink. And you can shop for a Scoof here:
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