Starbucks Corp will be releasing its biggest drink size ever, the 31-ounce “Trenta”, in all of its coffee shops in United States by May 3 of this year, the company informed on Sunday.

The new cup size will be available solely for its iced coffee, iced tea and iced tea lemonade drinks in U.S. The newest Trenta is 7 ounces larger than the Starbucks “Venti” cup for iced beverages, which is presently the largest size they had offered.

The company said that ordering drinks for the Trenta size will probably cost consumers about 50 cents more than getting the smaller Venti-sized iced drinks.

Starbucks based in Seattle tested the new size in many U.S markets last year and they have found that it was answering to the customer’s demand for larger cold drinks.

The Trenta size will be launched in 14 states that includes Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Texas and Virginia on January 18 and in California by February 1.

The biggest coffee chain in the world said that unsweetened beverages in the new and bigger size will contain fewer than 90 calories while sweetened versions will contain less than 230 calories.

McDonald’s Corp, the biggest fast-food restaurant chain in the world has taken direct aim at Starbucks with their own frappes, fruit smoothies, and espresso drinks such as cappuccino and lattes. It has also allured customers by selling 32-ounce sweet tea drinks for only $1 each.

U.S convenience stores, which have been competing with restaurant chains with their bigger selection of low-cost and quick-serve fare, have been selling large sizes of fountain drinks for years.

Sara Lee Corp is not rushing in to make any deals in the U.S coffee market even though they are focusing their business on coffee and meat, according to a statement given by its interim chief executive.

There are already rumors spreading about certain business deals in the U.S coffee market especially since Starbucks Corp had announced earlier this month that they want to end their distribution deal with the Kraft Foods Inc who has been selling their packaged coffee products at various supermarkets since 1998.

Starbucks is also making the coffee pods for Kraft’s one-cup Tassimo coffee brewer, which is a significant competitor of Sara Lee’s Senseo coffee system.

Sara Lee and Starbucks are two of the world’s biggest coffee companies. The image of heightened competition between these two companies started last week when media reports were released that Starbucks is going to launch its very own one-cup brewer.

However, a spokesman from Starbucks informed on Monday that the company has no plans yet to start its own one-cup brewer.

Aside from that, analysts suppose that once Starbucks ends their business deal with Kraft, it is likely that Kraft will also let go of their Maxwell House business since they are already focusing on their candy business along with the British confectioner Cadbury. If that happens, Sara Lee is a potential suitor.

Smits, the person who has lead Sara Lee since May, believe that Starbucks is not yet looking for a new partner to distribute their packaged coffees. But, Sara Lee will look long and hard if there are any potential acquisitions, and that includes Maxwell House.

Starbucks plans to end their deal with the Kraft Foods Inc to distribute their packaged Starbucks coffee to several stores and other outlets. It was just a month ago when Starbucks informed Kraft Foods about this plan.  Kraft Foods has been packaging for Starbucks for over a decade.

Kraft Foods Inc surprised the Wall Street when they gave them their profit report. They informed shareholders that it was still too early to tell what would be the impact of finishing this agreement on their profit results.

According to Kraft Chief Financial Officer Tim McLevish through a conference call with his analyst, they have known that Starbucks Corp has the plans to end the agreement, but they had not been into any conversations as to when, why or how the deal is going to end.

Starbucks is the largest coffee company in the world. They have just reported higher than expected quarterly earnings and informed in a statement that the company will try to work closely with Kraft Foods Inc to warrant an orderly change.

The coffee company has over 17,800 stores across 49 countries. They sell various hot and cold drinks such as dip brewed coffee, espresso-based hot drinks, as well as hot and cold sandwiches such as pastries, cakes, including tumblers and other products.

Their packaged coffees have been distributed by Kraft since 1998, whose agreement they want to end now. Kraft Foods also make their coffee under the Maxwell House brand. They are the world’s second largest food and beverage company.