Earnings Per Share (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Mar. 30, 2013	Mar. 24, 2012	Mar. 30, 2013	Mar. 24, 2012
Numerator for basic and diluted earnings per share:
Net income attributable to GMCR	$ 132,421	$ 93,031	$ 240,004	$ 197,445
Denominator:
Basic weighted average shares outstanding	148,774,443	155,049,294	149,044,980	154,876,465
Effect of dilutive securities (in shares)	3,535,610	4,325,251	3,505,180	4,491,677
Diluted weighted average shares outstanding	152,310,053	159,374,545	152,550,160	159,368,142
Basic and diluted net income per common share
Basic net income per common share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.89	$ 0.60	$ 1.61	$ 1.27
Diluted net income per common share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.87	$ 0.58	$ 1.57	$ 1.24
Diluted earnings per share, other disclosure
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share (in shares)	953,000	417,000	1,101,000	386,000