Changes to Goodwill From Acquisition (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Jan. 02, 2016	Jan. 03, 2015
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning balance	$ 282,960	$ 282,404
Change in goodwill related to an acquisition	181,966	3,180
Ending balance	464,926	282,960
Spare Parts and Final Fair Value Adjustments
Goodwill [Line Items]
Change in goodwill related to an acquisition		(3,503)
Property, Plant and Equipment Final Fair Value Adjustments
Goodwill [Line Items]
Change in goodwill related to an acquisition		6,683
Acquired Hostess Bread Asset
Goodwill [Line Items]
Beginning balance	$ 8,599	5,419
Change in goodwill related to an acquisition		3,180
Ending balance		8,599
Acquired Hostess Bread Asset \| Spare Parts and Final Fair Value Adjustments
Goodwill [Line Items]
Change in goodwill related to an acquisition		(3,503)
Acquired Hostess Bread Asset \| Property, Plant and Equipment Final Fair Value Adjustments
Goodwill [Line Items]
Change in goodwill related to an acquisition		$ 6,683

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388280&loc=d3e13770-109266

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_Goodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

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

- Definition

Amount of increase (decrease) from adjustments after acquisition date under purchase accounting of an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 25
-Paragraph 16
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=34752592&loc=d3e961-128460

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (g)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

+ Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueByAssetClassAxis=flo_SparePartsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueByAssetClassAxis=us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=flo_AcquiredHostessAssetsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: