ACQUISITIONS (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended											29 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Jul. 28, 2012	Apr. 28, 2012	Jan. 28, 2012	Oct. 29, 2011	Jul. 30, 2011	Apr. 30, 2011	Jan. 29, 2011	Oct. 30, 2010	Jul. 28, 2012	Jul. 30, 2011	Jul. 31, 2010	Jul. 28, 2012 Wholesale	Jul. 30, 2011 Wholesale	Jul. 31, 2010 Wholesale	Jul. 28, 2012 Wholesale UNFI Canada	Jul. 30, 2011 Wholesale UNFI Canada	Jul. 28, 2012 Other M entity	Jul. 30, 2011 Other entity	Jul. 31, 2010 Other entity	Jun. 11, 2010 Other Y	Jul. 28, 2012 Other Minimum	Jul. 30, 2011 Other Minimum	Jul. 28, 2012 Other Maximum	Jul. 30, 2011 Other Maximum	Jan. 28, 2012 Specialty food distribution Y	Jul. 28, 2012 Specialty food distribution	Jul. 28, 2012 Whole Foods Distribution Wholesale	Jul. 30, 2011 Whole Foods Distribution Wholesale	Jul. 31, 2010 SunOpta Distribution Group ("SDG") Wholesale	Jun. 11, 2010 SunOpta Distribution Group ("SDG") Wholesale	Jul. 28, 2012 SunOpta Distribution Group ("SDG") Wholesale Trade Names Y	Jun. 11, 2010 SunOpta Distribution Group ("SDG") Wholesale Trade Names	Jun. 30, 2010 SunOpta Distribution Group ("SDG") Wholesale Customer relationships Y	Jun. 11, 2010 SunOpta Distribution Group ("SDG") Wholesale Customer relationships
Summary of the consideration paid for the acquisition and the amounts of assets acquired and liabilities assumed
Inventory																											$ 6,911,000
Total current assets																														34,604,000
Property & equipment																											1,500,000			7,512,000
Customer relationships and other intangible assets																											7,900,000			12,443,000		800,000		11,600,000
Goodwill																											5,600,000			24,603,000
Total assets																											21,911,000			79,162,000
Liabilities																														13,385,000
Cash consideration paid																										3,000,000	21,911,000			65,777,000
Potential earn-outs																									1,950,000
Identifiable intangible assets																									800,000
Spot rate																														0.9673
Customer relationship, estimated useful life (in years)																									9.7						10		10.1
Incremental annual revenues																											25,400,000	131,600,000
Goodwill deductible for tax purposes																														19,000,000
Acquisition costs																													1,000,000
Net sales	1,343,660,000	1,388,023,000	1,286,910,000	1,217,428,000	1,158,616,000	1,203,983,000	1,114,449,000	1,052,967,000	5,236,021,000	4,530,015,000	3,757,139,000	5,175,445,000	4,472,694,000	3,698,349,000	233,500,000	200,700,000	163,278,000	162,731,000	171,841,000
Assets	1,493,946,000				1,400,988,000				1,493,946,000	1,400,988,000	1,250,799,000	1,357,988,000	1,258,783,000	1,099,962,000	94,700,000	93,800,000	144,637,000	150,151,000	159,814,000
Increase (decrease) in goodwill									3,057,000	1,210,000		2,857,000	1,210,000				200,000
Adjustment to goodwill due to valuation of certain intangibles																	100,000
Ongoing contingent consideration payments in the form of royalties as a percentage of net sales																					2.00%	2.00%	4.00%	4.00%
Number of branded product companies acquired for which ongoing contingent consideration payments in the form of royalties are recognized (in entities)																	2	2
Number of trailing months																	12
Number of branded product companies included in other segment (in entities)																			3
Period over which contingent consideration payments are required in the form of earn-outs (in years)																				5
Potential earn-outs																	$ 200,000