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What does let loose the berries mean in the passage below?

A grocery store found out that customers wanted to pick their strawberries individually instead of buying them preboxed. Once it let loose the berries, sales went up.

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That does not sound like actual English. One would not say “let loose the berries” normally, nor under almost any conceivable circumstance. – tchrist Dec 8 '12 at 16:01
Particularly with the phrase beginning with "it" - that is odd - unlikely to be anything published in English, IMO. – Kristina Lopez Dec 8 '12 at 16:06
@tchrist what do you mean it's not actual English? of course it is. it's just a creative turn of phrase. my guess is this came from one of those books where the author wants to sound like he's your buddy because he's not being formal – DHall Dec 8 '12 at 16:18
@DHall It is not a normal formulation any longer in normal English, no moreso than Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war is. Let loose is like to free, sometimes, but more commonly just “broke out”. One might might in antiquity have let loose the horses, today one just lets them loose, or more likely simply frees them. One can also say “all hell let loose” meaning that all hell broke out. That is the modern sense, not the one used above. – tchrist Dec 8 '12 at 16:30
"Once it (the store) let loose (allowed picking) the berries (the strawberries), sales went up (more customers bought more strawberries).". That's all it means, there's no special idiomatic meaning going on. – Mitch Dec 8 '12 at 17:53
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closed as not a real question by MετάEd, Mitch, tchrist, Robusto, RegDwighт♦ Dec 9 '12 at 12:44

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

1 Answer

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“Letting loose the berries” refers to displaying the strawberries in bulk, where people can pick and choose as many as they like, and whichever they like. In many US stores, strawberries are sold in 1, 2, or 4-pound packages. (Other fresh berries, such as blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, are sold in smaller packages.) enter image description here

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Something is off about the original quote. Neither you nor I would normally produce that phrase; I’m wonder who did. If I’d heard that some folks had let loose the raspberries, I would think they delivered a Bronx cheer or something. – tchrist Dec 8 '12 at 16:02
@tchrist So that's not American English, then? BrE would say "started to sell the berries loose". – Andrew Leach Dec 8 '12 at 16:05
@AndrewLeach No, it is certainly not American English. Your reformulation sounds fine, though. I think it is English calqued in translation from something else. If you let loose the berries, it sounds as though you’ve launched a sally of them, as from a trebuchet or a cannon. You haven’t just released them from their corral. – tchrist Dec 8 '12 at 16:44
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@tchrist, there's nothing wrong with the original quote. It is figurative language, referring to the strawberries as if they had been captive; perhaps a little out of the ordinary, but still perfectly good American English. – jwpat7 Dec 8 '12 at 17:13
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@tchrist: Let my berries go! – TimLymington Dec 8 '12 at 17:55
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