Caribou Coffee is introducing the first flavor of its ready-to-drink coffee line this week.

Starting Thursday, the Brooklyn Center-based coffeehouse chain will offer an 11.5-ounce can of cold brew black coffee for $3.49 at its approximately 300 company-owned locations in the U.S.

The chain later this year will introduce a ready-to-drink coffee flavored with cream and sugar and one flavored with vanilla and cream. Both will also be 11.5-ounce cans that are priced at $3.49.

The ready-to-drink line will feature a tweaked design of the Caribou Coffee logo. Caribou's line of coffee cans will compete with Starbucks' and Dunkin', both of which already sell ready-to-drink coffee cans.

Dunkin' introduced its first canned coffee beverage for sale in retail locations in September 2018.

Starbucks partnered with PepsiCo to launch its first ready-to-drink product in the 1990s, and now offers more than 50 ready-to-drink coffee beverages and leads the market in sales.

Caribou, a unit of JAB Holding Co., has 286 locations in Minnesota, 44 of which are in Minneapolis and St. Paul, according to its website.

Matthew Niksa