Goodwill and Intangible Assets - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended						3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 29, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Mar. 24, 2012	Oct. 11, 2011	Mar. 24, 2012 Customer Relationships	Mar. 24, 2012 Trade Names	Mar. 24, 2012 Fresh Fruit	Dec. 29, 2012 Fresh Fruit	Dec. 31, 2011 Fresh Fruit	Dec. 29, 2012 Dole Asia Sale Trade Names	Dec. 29, 2012 Asia Fresh - Discontinued Operation	Dec. 29, 2012 Segment, Continuing Operations	Dec. 31, 2011 Segment, Continuing Operations	Jan. 01, 2011 Segment, Continuing Operations	Dec. 29, 2012 Segment, Discontinued Operations	Dec. 31, 2011 Segment, Discontinued Operations	Jan. 01, 2011 Segment, Discontinued Operations
Goodwill [Line Items]
Acquisition of capital stock					100.00%
Acquisition of goodwill	$ 1,300,000		$ 1,300,000	$ 6,900,000	$ 13,600,000
Goodwill attributable to subsidiary	4,000,000	11,000,000	4,000,000					11,000,000	11,000,000	4,000,000
Total Consideration				15,000,000
Annual earn-out, maximum				500,000
Intangible assets				9,300,000		7,100,000	2,200,000
Goodwill		140,060,000										72,596,000
Intangible assets, net		471,834,000									460,000,000	225,943,000
Amortization expense of intangible assets													$ 3,900,000	$ 800,000	$ 100,000	$ 4,800,000	$ 3,700,000	$ 3,700,000