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Business Segment Information - Additional Information (Detail) | 12 Months Ended
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Oct. 31, 2014 acre Segment
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] |
Number of operating segment | 5 us-gaap_NumberOfOperatingSegments
Number of reportable business segment | 4 us-gaap_NumberOfReportableSegments
Measurement area of timber properties in the south eastern United States which are actively managed in acres | 250,200 gef_MeasurementAreaOfTimberPropertiesWhichAreActivelyManaged
Measurement area of timber properties in Canada which are not actively managed in acres | 5,300 gef_MeasurementAreaOfTimberPropertiesWhichAreNotActivelyManaged
Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services [Member] |
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] |
Number of operating segment | 2 us-gaap_NumberOfOperatingSegments / us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis = gef_RigidIndustrialPackagingAndServicesMember

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- Definition Measurement area of timber properties which are actively managed. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | gef_MeasurementAreaOfTimberPropertiesWhichAreActivelyManaged
Namespace Prefix: | gef_
Data Type: | num:areaItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition Measurement area of timber properties which are not actively managed. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | gef_MeasurementAreaOfTimberPropertiesWhichAreNotActivelyManaged
Namespace Prefix: | gef_
Data Type: | num:areaItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_NumberOfOperatingSegments
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_NumberOfReportableSegments
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Details
Name: | us-gaap_SegmentReportingInformationLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Details
Name: | us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=gef_RigidIndustrialPackagingAndServicesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |