Supplemental Consolidating Financial Information Condensed Statement of Income (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Net sales	$ 725,331us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet	$ 761,990us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet
Cost of sales	622,604us-gaap_CostOfGoodsSold	685,252us-gaap_CostOfGoodsSold
Selling, general and administrative	49,401	54,391
Transaction costs	47,979	5,919
Depreciation	15,935us-gaap_Depreciation	13,499us-gaap_Depreciation
Amortization	2,342us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets	2,341us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets
Equity in earnings of investees	0
Operating income	(12,930)us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	588us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
Interest income	664us-gaap_InterestIncomeOther	664us-gaap_InterestIncomeOther
Interest expense	(9,185)us-gaap_InterestExpense	(15,468)us-gaap_InterestExpense
Loss on debt extinguishment	(36,212)	(521)
Other income (expense), net	(602)us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingIncomeExpense	(3,894)us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingIncomeExpense
Interest Expense, Related Party	0us-gaap_InterestExpenseRelatedParty
Income before income taxes	(58,265)	(18,631)
Income tax benefit (expense)	(6,361)us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	(5,972)us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Net Loss	(64,626)us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss	(24,603)us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Net sales	(242,815)	(242,586)
Cost of sales	(242,602)	(242,199)
Selling, general and administrative	0	0
Transaction costs	0	0
Depreciation	0	0
Amortization	0	0
Equity in earnings of investees	(57,457)
Operating income	(57,670)	(4,384)
Interest income	0	0
Interest expense	0	0
Loss on debt extinguishment	0	0
Other income (expense), net	0	387
Interest Expense, Related Party	213
Income before income taxes	(57,457)	(3,997)
Income tax benefit (expense)	5,203	(711)
Net Loss	(52,254)	(4,708)
Parent Company [Member] \| Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Net sales	0	0
Cost of sales	0	0
Selling, general and administrative	3,007	7,908
Transaction costs	38,044	5,919
Depreciation	0	0
Amortization	0	0
Equity in earnings of investees	3,488
Operating income	(37,563)	(13,922)
Interest income	0	0
Interest expense	(3,982)	(5,292)
Loss on debt extinguishment	(17,112)	0
Other income (expense), net	0	583
Interest Expense, Related Party	392
Income before income taxes	(58,265)	(18,631)
Income tax benefit (expense)	(6,361)	(5,972)
Net Loss	(64,626)	(24,603)
Subsidiary Issuer [Member] \| Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Net sales	200,352	209,044
Cost of sales	211,948	202,000
Selling, general and administrative	5,303	3,787
Transaction costs	4,096	0
Depreciation	5,324	1,276
Amortization	0	0
Equity in earnings of investees	53,968
Operating income	27,649	9,546
Interest income	0	2
Interest expense	(4,404)	(9,231)
Loss on debt extinguishment	(19,100)	(521)
Other income (expense), net	0	109
Interest Expense, Related Party	(657)
Income before income taxes	3,488	(95)
Income tax benefit (expense)	(67)	(343)
Net Loss	3,421	(438)
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member] \| Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Net sales	295,017	293,273
Cost of sales	254,039	262,872
Selling, general and administrative	17,385	22,172
Transaction costs	4,620	0
Depreciation	5,679	6,199
Amortization	2,335	2,335
Equity in earnings of investees	1
Operating income	10,960	(3,778)
Interest income	0	33
Interest expense	(676)	(884)
Loss on debt extinguishment	0	0
Other income (expense), net	0	(451)
Interest Expense, Related Party	(116)
Income before income taxes	10,168	(5,080)
Income tax benefit (expense)	(4,424)	1,968
Net Loss	5,744	(3,112)
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member] \| Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Net sales	472,777	502,259
Cost of sales	399,219	462,579
Selling, general and administrative	23,706	20,524
Transaction costs	1,219	0
Depreciation	4,932	6,024
Amortization	7	6
Equity in earnings of investees	0
Operating income	43,694	13,126
Interest income	664	629
Interest expense	(123)	(61)
Loss on debt extinguishment	0	0
Other income (expense), net	(602)	(4,522)
Interest Expense, Related Party	168
Income before income taxes	43,801	9,172
Income tax benefit (expense)	(712)	(914)
Net Loss	$ 43,089	$ 8,258

CHIQUITA BRANDS INTERNATIONAL INC 10-Q