Debt - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended					3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 entity	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014 Senior secured credit facility	Mar. 31, 2014 Dean Foods Company Senior secured credit facility		Dec. 31, 2013 Dean Foods Company Senior secured credit facility		Dec. 31, 2013 Dean Foods Company Senior Notes Due 2018	Dec. 31, 2011 Dean Foods Company Senior Notes Due 2018	Mar. 31, 2014 Dean Foods Company Senior Notes Due 2018	Dec. 16, 2010 Dean Foods Company Senior Notes Due 2018	Dec. 31, 2013 Dean Foods Company Senior Notes Due 2016	Dec. 31, 2006 Dean Foods Company Senior Notes Due 2016	Mar. 31, 2014 Dean Foods Company Senior Notes Due 2016	Mar. 31, 2014 Subsidiary Debt Obligation Senior Notes Due 2017		Dec. 31, 2013 Subsidiary Debt Obligation Senior Notes Due 2017		Mar. 31, 2014 Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility	Jul. 31, 2013 Five Year Senior Secured Credit Facility	Mar. 31, 2014 Five Year Senior Secured Credit Facility Minimum	Jul. 31, 2013 Five Year Senior Secured Credit Facility Maximum	Mar. 31, 2014 Five Year Senior Secured Credit Facility Maximum	Jul. 31, 2013 Five Year Senior Secured Credit Facility Letter of Credit	Jul. 31, 2013 Five Year Senior Secured Credit Facility Swing Line Loan	Mar. 31, 2014 Five Year Senior Secured Credit Facility Libor Plus Margin	Jul. 31, 2013 Five Year Senior Secured Credit Facility Libor Plus Margin Minimum	Jul. 31, 2013 Five Year Senior Secured Credit Facility Libor Plus Margin Maximum	Mar. 31, 2014 Five Year Senior Secured Credit Facility Alternate Base Rate Plus Margin	Jul. 31, 2013 Five Year Senior Secured Credit Facility Alternate Base Rate Plus Margin Minimum	Jul. 31, 2013 Five Year Senior Secured Credit Facility Alternate Base Rate Plus Margin Maximum	Feb. 29, 2012 Receivables Securitization Facility installment	Mar. 31, 2014 Receivables Securitization Facility	Jul. 11, 2013 Receivables Securitization Facility Minimum	Jul. 11, 2013 Receivables Securitization Facility Maximum	Mar. 31, 2014 Receivables Securitization Facility Letter of Credit
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Loan term																				5 years
Amount borrowed under credit facility																				$ 750,000,000				$ 200,000,000	$ 150,000,000								$ 550,000,000			$ 300,000,000
Number Of Wholly-Owned Bankruptcy-Remote Entities	2
Potential change in borrowing capacity																						500,000,000
Debt instrument, maturity date																				Jul. 31, 2018													Mar. 31, 2015
Loans outstanding under the new senior secured credit facility interest rate																										1.75%	1.25%	2.25%	0.75%	0.25%	1.25%
Debt Covenant, Percentage Of Guarantor's First-Tier Foreign Subsidiaries			65.00%
Secured Debt				328,940,000		50,250,000
Consolidated net leverage ratio																							3.50												3.50
Consolidated interest coverage ratio																					3.00													3.00
Outstanding borrowings		963,355,000
Average daily balance under facility																			54,300,000														227,900,000
Letters of credit outstanding amount																			0														0
Debt instrument, principal amount									400,000,000		400,000,000		500,000,000		142,000,000
Debt instrument, maturity date									Dec. 31, 2018				Jun. 30, 2016		Oct. 31, 2017
Line of credit, current borrowing capacity																																	525,977,222
Amount borrowed under credit facility																																	501,000,000
Repayment of credit facility																																	714,000,000
Line of credit, amount outstanding																																	235,500,000
Line of credit facility outstanding, remaining borrowing capacity																																	290,500,000
Total receivables sold																																	699,800,000
Borrowings repaid								376,200,000				23,800,000
Issuance of standby letter of credit																																80,000,000	60,900,000
Number of Payment Installments																																4
Debt instrument, interest rate								9.75%		9.75%	9.75%	7.00%	7.00%	7.00%
Senior notes								$ 23,812,000		$ 23,812,000		$ 475,579,000		$ 475,637,000	$ 133,317,000		$ 132,808,000
Weighted average rate (percent)				1.67%	[1]	1.67%	[1]								6.90%	[1]	6.90%	[1]

[1] Represents a weighted average rate, including applicable interest rate margins, for the credit facility.