Business and Recent Accounting Pronouncements (Policies)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 30, 2019
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation The accompanying interim unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X and in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial reporting. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair statement of our results of operations for the interim periods reported and of our financial condition as of the date of the interim balance sheet have been included. The Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 29, 2018 included herein was derived from the audited consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2018 (our “2018 Annual Report”). This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the annual audited Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying notes in our 2018 Annual Report. The accounting policies used in these interim Consolidated Financial Statements are consistent with those used in the annual Consolidated Financial Statements. The presentation of these interim Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying notes.
Changes in Presentation	Changes in Presentation Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. These reclassifications had no effect on net cash provided by operating activities. During the first quarter of 2019, we reviewed and realigned our reporting segments to reflect how the business will be managed and results will be reviewed by the Chief Executive Officer, who is the Company’s chief operating decision maker. Following such review, we realigned our three reporting segments as follows: Route Based Services (which includes our DS Services of America, Inc. (“DSS”), Aquaterra Corporation (“Aquaterra”), Mountain Valley Spring Company (“Mountain Valley”), Eden Springs Europe B.V. (“Eden”) and Aimia Foods (“Aimia”) businesses), Coffee, Tea & Extract Solutions (which includes our S. & D. Coffee, Inc. (“S&D”) business) and All Other (which includes our Cott Beverages LLC business and other miscellaneous expenses). Our segment reporting results have been recast to reflect these changes for all periods presented. Significant Accounting Policies Included in Note 1 of our 2018 Annual Report is a summary of the Company’s significant accounting policies. Provided below is a summary of additional accounting policies that are significant to the financial results of the Company.
Cost of sales	Cost of sales We record costs associated with the manufacturing of our products in cost of sales. Shipping and handling costs incurred to store, prepare and move products between production facilities or from production facilities to branch locations or storage facilities are recorded in cost of sales. Shipping and handling costs incurred to deliver products from our Route Based Services and Coffee, Tea and Extract Solutions reporting segment branch locations to the end-user consumer of those products are recorded in selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses. All other costs incurred in the shipment of products from our production facilities to customer locations are reflected in cost of sales. Shipping and handling costs included in SG&A expenses were $118.5 million and $113.8 million for the three months ended March 30, 2019 and March 31, 2018, respectively. Finished goods inventory costs include the cost of direct labor and materials and the applicable share of overhead expense chargeable to production.
Leases	Leases We have operating and finance leases for manufacturing and production facilities, branch distribution and warehouse facilities, vehicles and machinery and equipment. At inception, we determine whether an agreement represents a lease and, at commencement, we evaluate each lease agreement to determine whether the lease constitutes an operating or financing lease. Some of our lease agreements have renewal options, tenant improvement allowances, rent holidays and rent escalation clauses. As described below under “Recently adopted accounting pronouncements,” we adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02 - Leases as of December 30, 2018. With the adoption of ASU 2016-02, we recorded operating lease right-of-use assets and operating lease obligations on our balance sheet. Right-of-use lease assets represent our right to use the underlying asset for the lease term, and the operating lease obligation represents our commitment to make the lease payments arising from the lease. We have elected not to recognize on the balance sheet leases with terms of one-year or less. Lease liabilities and their corresponding right-of-use assets are recorded based on the present value of lease payments over the expected lease term. The interest rate implicit in lease contracts is typically not readily determinable. As such, we utilize the appropriate incremental borrowing rate, which is the rate incurred to borrow on a collateralized basis over a similar term an amount equal to the lease payments in a similar economic environment. Certain adjustments to the right-of-use asset may be required for items such as initial direct costs paid or incentives received. The lease term may include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that we will exercise that option. Operating lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term, subject to any changes in the lease or expectations regarding the terms.
Recently issued accounting pronouncements	Recently issued accounting pronouncements Update ASU 2016-13 – Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326) In June 2016, the FASB amended its guidance to measure all expected credit losses for financial assets held at the reporting date based on historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts. Entities will now use forward-looking information to better form their credit loss estimates. The amended guidance also requires enhanced disclosures to help financial statement users better understand significant estimates and judgments used in estimating credit losses, as well as the credit quality and underwriting standards of an entity’s portfolio. The amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption will be permitted for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. This guidance will be applied using a prospective or modified retrospective transition method, depending on the area covered in this update. We are currently assessing the impact of adoption of this standard on our Consolidated Financial Statements. Update ASU 2018-13 – Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820) In August 2018, the FASB amended its guidance on disclosure requirements for fair value measurement. The update amends existing fair value measurement disclosure requirements by adding, changing, or removing certain disclosures. The amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2019. Implementation on a prospective or retrospective basis varies by specific disclosure requirement. Early adoption is permitted. The standard also allows for early adoption of any removed or modified disclosures upon issuance of this update while delaying adoption of the additional disclosures until their effective date. We are currently assessing the impact of adoption of this standard on our Consolidated Financial Statements. Update ASU 2018-14 – Compensation—Retirement Benefits—Defined Benefit Plans—General (Subtopic 715-20) In August 2018, the FASB amended its guidance on disclosure requirements for defined benefit plans. The update amends existing annual disclosure requirements applicable to all employers that sponsor defined benefit pension and other postretirement plans by adding, removing, and clarifying certain disclosures. The amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, with early adoption permitted, and are to be applied on a retrospective basis to all periods presented. We are currently assessing the impact of adoption of this standard on our Consolidated Financial Statements. Update ASU 2018-15 – Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40) In August 2018, the FASB amended its guidance related to a customer’s accounting for implementation costs incurred in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract. This update aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. This update also requires customers to expense the capitalized implementation costs of a hosting arrangement that is a service contract over the term of the hosting arrangement. The amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted, including adoption in any interim period. The amendments in this update should be applied either retrospectively or prospectively to all implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption. We are currently assessing the impact of adoption of this standard on our Consolidated Financial Statements.
Revenue Recognition, Policy	We are a water, coffee, tea, extracts and filtration service company. Our principal source of revenue is from bottled water delivery to residential and business customers primarily in North America and Europe, and the manufacture and distribution of coffee, tea and extracts to institutional and commercial customers in the United States. Revenue is recognized, net of sales returns, when a customer obtains control of promised goods or services in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to receive in exchange for those goods or services. We measure revenue based on the consideration specified in the client arrangement, and revenue is recognized when the performance obligations in the client arrangement are satisfied. A performance obligation is a contractual promise to transfer a distinct service to the customer. The transaction price of a contract is allocated to each distinct performance obligation and recognized as revenue when the customer receives the benefit of the performance obligation. Clients typically receive the benefit of our services as they are performed. Substantially all our client contracts require that we be compensated for services performed to date. This may be upon shipment of goods or upon delivery to the customer, depending on contractual terms. Shipping and handling costs paid by the customer to us are included in revenue and costs incurred by us for shipping and handling activities that are performed after a customer obtains control of the product are accounted for as fulfillment costs. In addition, we exclude from net revenue and cost of sales taxes assessed by governmental authorities on revenue-producing transactions. Although we occasionally accept returns of products from our customers, historically returns have not been material.
Hedging transactions and derivative financial instruments	We are directly and indirectly affected by changes in foreign currency market conditions. These changes in market conditions may adversely impact our financial performance and are referred to as market risks. When deemed appropriate by management, we use derivatives as a risk management tool to mitigate the potential impact of foreign currency market risks. We use various types of derivative instruments including, but not limited to, forward contracts, futures contracts and swap agreements for certain commodities. Forward and futures contracts are agreements to buy or sell a quantity of a currency at a predetermined future date, and at a predetermined rate or price. Forward contracts are traded over-the-counter whereas future contracts are traded on an exchange. A swap agreement is a contract between two parties to exchange cash flows based on specified underlying notional amounts, assets and/or indices. All derivatives are carried at fair value in the Consolidated Balance Sheets in the line item accounts receivable, net or accounts payable and accrued liabilities. The carrying values of the derivatives reflect the impact of legally enforceable agreements with the same counterparties. These agreements allow us to net settle positive and negative positions (assets and liabilities) arising from different transactions with the same counterparty. The accounting for gains and losses that result from changes in the fair values of derivative instruments depends on whether the derivatives have been designated and qualify as hedging instruments and the types of hedging relationships. Derivatives can be designated as fair value hedges, cash flow hedges or hedges of net investments in foreign operations. The changes in the fair values of derivatives that have been designated and qualify for fair value hedge accounting are recorded in the same line item in our Consolidated Statements of Operations as the changes in the fair value of the hedged items attributable to the risk being hedged. The changes in fair values of derivatives that have been designated and qualify as cash flow hedges are recorded in AOCI and are reclassified into the line item in the Consolidated Statements of Operations in which the hedged items are recorded in the same period the hedged items affect earnings. Due to the high degree of effectiveness between the hedging instruments and the underlying exposures being hedged, fluctuations in the value of the derivative instruments are generally offset by changes in the fair values or cash flows of the underlying exposures being hedged. The changes in fair values of derivatives that were not designated and/or did not qualify as hedging instruments are immediately recognized into earnings. We classify cash inflows and outflows related to derivative and hedging instruments within the appropriate cash flows section associated with the item being hedged. For derivatives that will be accounted for as hedging instruments, we formally designate and document, at inception, the financial instrument as a hedge of a specific underlying exposure, the risk management objective and the strategy for undertaking the hedge transaction. In addition, we formally assess both at the inception and at least quarterly thereafter, whether the financial instruments used in hedging transactions are highly effective at offsetting changes in either the fair values or cash flows of the related underlying exposures. We estimate the fair values of our derivatives based on quoted market prices or pricing models using current market rates (see Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements). The notional amounts of the derivative financial instruments do not necessarily represent amounts exchanged by the parties and, therefore, are not a direct measure of our exposure to the financial risks described above. The amounts exchanged are calculated by reference to the notional amounts and by other terms of the derivatives, such as interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates or other financial indices. We do not view the fair values of our derivatives in isolation, but rather in relation to the fair values or cash flows of the underlying hedged transactions. All of our derivatives are over-the-counter instruments with liquid markets.