Divestiture (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Apr. 30, 2020	Apr. 30, 2019	Apr. 30, 2018
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from divestiture	$ 0.0	$ 369.5	$ 0.0
Gain on divestiture	$ 0.0	27.7	0.0
U.S. Baking Business [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Annual net sales			$ 370.0
Proceeds from divestiture		369.5
Gain on divestiture		$ 27.7

Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Annual Net Sales

No definition available.

Name:	sjm_DisposalGroupIncludingDiscontinuedOperationAnnualNetSales
Namespace Prefix:	sjm_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount before tax of gain (loss) recognized on the sale or disposal of a disposal group. Excludes discontinued operations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109226348&loc=d3e2443-110228

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109226691&loc=d3e2941-110230

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisposalGroupNotDiscontinuedOperationGainLossOnDisposal
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The cash inflow associated with the amount received from the sale of a portion of the company's business, for example a segment, division, branch or other business, during the period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 12
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3179-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ProceedsFromDivestitureOfBusinesses
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=sjm_U.S.BakingBusinessMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: