The doughnut maker started selling coffee and had to fight the star Buck.

Previously, ready-to-drink coffee in the United States had long been dominated by Donndole's rival Starbucks Co.,SBUX. Starbucks launched Frappuccino, a bottled ready-to-drink coffee maker, in 1996, and in 2015, a joint venture between Starbucks and beverage giant Pepsi CoInc.,PEP, North American Coffee Cooperation Group (North American Coffee Partnership), accounted for 97% of the North American ready-to-drink coffee market.

Donndole did not disclose more information about the taste and packaging of the new product, saying only that it "will be consistent with the taste of the Donndole classic." The company hopes that the new products will attract more consumers and improve the brand loyalty of existing consumers.

The move is not only a challenge to Starbucks, but also a contest between two food giants, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, in this fast-growing market.

Globally, Coca-Cola has a larger ready-to-drink coffee market than Pepsi, and its best-selling ready-to-drink coffee brand is Georgia. The company also said earlier in September that its US stores would sell cold coffee under its tea brand Gold Peak from the beginning of next year.

Instant coffee is not only growing rapidly in the United States, but also popular with young consumers in China. According to Euromonitor, retail sales of ready-to-drink coffee in China reached US $2.645 billion in 2015, nearly 10 times that of 2010, with a compound annual growth rate of 23.4% in the past five years. Major brands include Nestl é, Uni-President and China Resources Kirin.

Virginia Lee, senior beverage analyst at Euromonitor, said that with the popularity of coffee in cafes and convenience stores in Asia-Pacific countries, instant coffee will also face competitive pressure in the future, and the introduction of high-end products with better raw materials, more beautiful packaging and higher prices will become a common choice for brands.

CEO Nigel Travis of Dunkin'Brands GroupInc.,DNKN said that Downdole's iced coffee sales ranked first in the United States, and the category of instant coffee (ready-to-drinkcoffee,RTD) is showing rapid growth worldwide, growing by more than 8% in the US market last year, with a market size of more than US $2.3 billion, making it a market with great potential.