Debt - Schedule of Debt Instruments (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Total debt and capital lease obligations	$ 886,051	$ 834,573
Subtotal	895,080	847,212
Unamortized discounts and debt issuance costs	(9,029)	(12,639)
Less current portion	(140,806)	(1,493)
Total long-term portion	745,245	833,080
Unamortized debt issuance costs	6,800	7,900
Dean Foods Company
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Total debt and capital lease obligations	709,100	700,000
Dean Foods Company \| Senior Notes Due 2023
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Senior notes	$ 700,000	$ 700,000
Interest Rate, Notes Due	6.50%	6.50%
Dean Foods Company \| Senior Secured Credit Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Credit facility	$ 9,100	$ 0
Interest Rate, Credit Facility	2.94%	0.00%
Subsidiary debt obligations
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Total debt and capital lease obligations	$ 185,980	$ 147,212
Subsidiary debt obligations \| Senior Notes Due 2017
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Senior notes	$ 142,000	$ 142,000
Interest Rate, Notes Due	6.90%	6.90%
Unamortized debt issuance costs	$ 2,300
Subsidiary debt obligations \| Capital lease and other
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Capital lease and other	3,980	$ 5,212
Receivables securitization facility \| Subsidiary debt obligations
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Credit facility	$ 40,000
Interest Rate, Credit Facility	1.87%	0.00%

Capital Lease Obligations and Other Borrowings

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- Definition

Debt and Capital Lease Obligations, Discounts and Debt Issuance Costs

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- Definition

Debt and Capital Lease Obligations, Gross

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- Definition

Sum of the carrying values as of the balance sheet date of all debt, including all short-term borrowings, long-term debt, and capital lease obligations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03.13,16)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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Contractual interest rate for funds borrowed, under the debt agreement.

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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.

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Weighted average interest rate of debt outstanding.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

The carrying value as of the balance sheet date of the current and noncurrent portions of long-term obligations drawn from a line of credit, which is a bank's commitment to make loans up to a specific amount. Examples of items that might be included in the application of this element may consist of letters of credit, standby letters of credit, and revolving credit arrangements, under which borrowings can be made up to a maximum amount as of any point in time conditional on satisfaction of specified terms before, as of and after the date of drawdowns on the line. Includes short-term obligations that would normally be classified as current liabilities but for which (a) postbalance sheet date issuance of a long term obligation to refinance the short term obligation on a long term basis, or (b) the enterprise has entered into a financing agreement that clearly permits the enterprise to refinance the short-term obligation on a long term basis and the following conditions are met (1) the agreement does not expire within 1 year and is not cancelable by the lender except for violation of an objectively determinable provision, (2) no violation exists at the BS date, and (3) the lender has entered into the financing agreement is expected to be financially capable of honoring the agreement.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(22))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

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- Definition

Amount of long-term debt and capital lease obligation due after one year or beyond the normal operating cycle, if longer.

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Amount of long-term debt and capital leases due within one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer.

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Including the current and noncurrent portions, carrying value as of the balance sheet date of Notes with the highest claim on the assets of the issuer in case of bankruptcy or liquidation (with maturities initially due after one year or beyond the operating cycle if longer). Senior note holders are paid off in full before any payments are made to junior note holders.

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- Definition

The remaining balance of debt issuance expenses that were capitalized and are being amortized against income over the lives of the respective bond issues. This does not include the amounts capitalized as part of the cost of the utility plant or asset.

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