Acquisitions and Divestitures (Details) (Filterfresh, USD $)	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 03, 2011	Dec. 24, 2011	Sep. 24, 2011	Sep. 29, 2012
Filterfresh
Acquisitions and divestitures
Cash received on sale of subsidiary				$ 149,500,000
Amount of cash transferred as part of sale of subsidiary				4,400,000
Payment made for settlement of contingency				7,400,000
Net cash inflow related to sale of subsidiary				137,700,000
Gain on sale of subsidiary		26,300,000
Revenues and net income of disposal group included in consolidated statement of operations
Net sales	2,286,000		90,855,000
Net income	229,000		12,263,000
Less income attributable to noncontrolling interests	20,000		1,051,000
Net income attributable to GMCR	209,000		11,212,000
Diluted net income per share (in dollars per share)			$ 0.07
Intercompany sales eliminated and not reflected in consolidated statement of operations			$ 22,200,000	$ 600,000