Guarantor and Non-Guarantor Financial Information (Details 1) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Jan. 31, 2012	Apr. 30, 2011	Jan. 31, 2011	Apr. 30, 2010
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 370,428	$ 319,845	$ 549,583	$ 283,570
Inventories	990,815	863,579
Other current assets	444,750	453,575
Total Current Assets	1,805,993	1,636,999
PROPERTY, PLANT, AND EQUIPMENT, NET	1,064,299	867,882
INVESTMENTS IN SUBSIDIARIES AND INTERCOMPANY	0	0
OTHER NONCURRENT ASSETS
Goodwill	3,033,531	2,812,746
Other intangible assets, net	3,233,960	2,940,010
Other noncurrent assets	98,091	66,948
Total Other Noncurrent Assets	6,365,582	5,819,704
Total assets	9,235,874	8,324,585
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Total Current Liabilities	494,335	482,676
NONCURRENT LIABILITIES
Long-term debt	2,071,202	1,304,039
Deferred income taxes	1,029,921	1,042,823
Other noncurrent liabilities	256,276	202,684
Total Noncurrent Liabilities	3,357,399	2,549,546
Total Shareholders' Equity	5,384,140	5,292,363
Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity	9,235,874	8,324,585
The J.M. Smucker Company (Parent) [Member]
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	263,937	206,845	446,617	217,730
Inventories	0	0
Other current assets	358,943	364,377
Total Current Assets	622,880	571,222
PROPERTY, PLANT, AND EQUIPMENT, NET	215,436	193,321
INVESTMENTS IN SUBSIDIARIES AND INTERCOMPANY	5,625,918	4,872,622
OTHER NONCURRENT ASSETS
Goodwill	976,617	981,606
Other intangible assets, net	438,516	440,174
Other noncurrent assets	58,325	50,012
Total Other Noncurrent Assets	1,473,458	1,471,792
Total assets	7,937,692	7,108,957
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Total Current Liabilities	202,848	234,262
NONCURRENT LIABILITIES
Long-term debt	2,071,202	1,304,039
Deferred income taxes	111,424	115,985
Other noncurrent liabilities	168,078	162,308
Total Noncurrent Liabilities	2,350,704	1,582,332
Total Shareholders' Equity	5,384,140	5,292,363
Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity	7,937,692	7,108,957
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Inventories	221,194	182,531
Other current assets	3,915	8,190
Total Current Assets	225,109	190,721
PROPERTY, PLANT, AND EQUIPMENT, NET	375,513	305,519
INVESTMENTS IN SUBSIDIARIES AND INTERCOMPANY	963,785	802,936
OTHER NONCURRENT ASSETS
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	0	3,116
Other noncurrent assets	15,188	15,106
Total Other Noncurrent Assets	15,188	18,222
Total assets	1,579,595	1,317,398
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Total Current Liabilities	125,889	81,239
NONCURRENT LIABILITIES
Long-term debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other noncurrent liabilities	16,765	16,447
Total Noncurrent Liabilities	16,765	16,447
Total Shareholders' Equity	1,436,941	1,219,712
Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity	1,579,595	1,317,398
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	106,491	113,000	102,966	65,840
Inventories	790,616	700,750
Other current assets	81,892	81,008
Total Current Assets	978,999	894,758
PROPERTY, PLANT, AND EQUIPMENT, NET	473,350	369,042
INVESTMENTS IN SUBSIDIARIES AND INTERCOMPANY	736,061	1,209,603
OTHER NONCURRENT ASSETS
Goodwill	2,056,914	1,831,140
Other intangible assets, net	2,795,444	2,496,720
Other noncurrent assets	24,578	1,830
Total Other Noncurrent Assets	4,876,936	4,329,690
Total assets	7,065,346	6,803,093
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Total Current Liabilities	165,598	167,175
NONCURRENT LIABILITIES
Long-term debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	918,497	926,838
Other noncurrent liabilities	71,433	23,929
Total Noncurrent Liabilities	989,930	950,767
Total Shareholders' Equity	5,909,818	5,685,151
Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity	7,065,346	6,803,093
Eliminations [Member]
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Inventories	(20,995)	(19,702)
Other current assets	0	0
Total Current Assets	(20,995)	(19,702)
PROPERTY, PLANT, AND EQUIPMENT, NET	0	0
INVESTMENTS IN SUBSIDIARIES AND INTERCOMPANY	(7,325,764)	(6,885,161)
OTHER NONCURRENT ASSETS
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	0	0
Other noncurrent assets	0	0
Total Other Noncurrent Assets	0	0
Total assets	(7,346,759)	(6,904,863)
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Total Current Liabilities	0	0
NONCURRENT LIABILITIES
Long-term debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other noncurrent liabilities	0	0
Total Noncurrent Liabilities	0	0
Total Shareholders' Equity	(7,346,759)	(6,904,863)
Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity	$ (7,346,759)	$ (6,904,863)