Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jul. 02, 2016	Jul. 04, 2015	Jul. 02, 2016	Jul. 04, 2015
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net revenue	$ 609,500	$ 431,428	$ 1,072,265	$ 833,769
Cost of sales	391,217	279,945	711,828	542,924
Gross profit	218,283	151,483	360,437	290,845
Selling, general and administrative	167,519	121,844	291,708	243,768
Transaction and integration related expenses	10,634	0	59,940	0
Impairment charges	489	0	863	0
Gain on sale of route businesses, net	(155)	(74)	(691)	(867)
Other income, net	(987)	(110)	(1,284)	(846)
Income before interest and income taxes	40,783	29,823	9,901	48,790
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	0	4,749	0
Interest expense, net	9,361	2,671	14,090	5,138
Income/(loss) before income taxes	31,422	27,152	(8,938)	43,652
Income tax expense/(benefit)	11,805	9,758	(3,161)	15,676
Net income/(loss)	19,617	17,394	(5,777)	27,976
Net (loss)/income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(64)	65	(27)	11
Net income/(loss) attributable to Snyder’s-Lance, Inc.	$ 19,681	$ 17,329	$ (5,750)	$ 27,965
Basic (loss)/earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.21	$ 0.25	$ (0.07)	$ 0.40
Weighted average basic shares outstanding (in shares)	95,679	70,426	87,816	70,342
Diluted (loss)/earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.20	$ 0.24	$ (0.07)	$ 0.39
Weighted average diluted shares outstanding (in shares)	96,666	71,171	87,816	71,074
Cash dividends declared per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.16	$ 0.16	$ 0.32	$ 0.32