Writing Questions on an Article

[thedaffodils]

Hello! The paragragh I quote is the excerpt from an article in Financial Times.

Could someone else answer the questions that follow? Thanks in advance!

Q1: Does the part I highlight in blue belong to CJ Fraleigh's comments? Why did the author put it in next paragraph?

Q2: I think "the increases" is poor English. The expression should be "some products will increase as low as zero...". "The increases" with the definite article 'the' refer to all the increases, which is in contradiction with the later parts. What do you think?

US food companies are preparing for another round of hefty price increases as soaring commodity costs force them to pass on rises to consumers.
Sara Lee, the maker of meat products such as Jimmy Dean sausages, said costs will compel it to push up prices on meat lines by up to a fifth later this year.

“We will be taking price increases on the vast majority of the protein products in this calendar year,” said CJ Fraleigh, Sara Lee's chief operating officer for North America, in an interview last month.

“Price increases vary a lot by type of products but the increases will be as low as zero and some products we will decrease on and other increases in excess of 20 per cent.” Kraft Foods, Kellogg's, ConAgra and Tyson are also pushing through increases which are expected to contribute to inflationary pressures in the US.

[Raymott]

Hello! The paragragh I quote is the excerpt from article in Financial Times.

Could someone else reply my questions as below? Thanks in advance!

Q1: Is the part I highlight in blue CJ Fraleigh's comment? Why did the author put it in nex paragraph?

Q2: I think "the increases" is poor English. The expression should be "some products will increase as low as zero...". "The increases" with the definite article 'the' refer to all the increases, which is in contradiction with the later parts. What do you think?

Yes, the bit in blue is part of Fraleigh's comment. When a quotation mark is left off the end of a paragraph, the quotation extends to the next paragraph, which should start with a quotation mark.
I don't see a problem with "the increases" here. He has just mentioned "price increases" and he's making a further point about them.
However, I think "some products we will decrease on and other increases in excess of 20 per cent." is bad English. I don't understand this bit. But remember he is speaking under pressure from a reporter who is pushing him to justify his company's price increases.

[tedtmc]

Could someone else answer the questions that follow?

- Someone else other than?

Q1: Does the part I highlight in blue belong to CJ Fraleigh's comments? Why did the author put it in next paragraph? Yes, I agree that is bad paragraphing.

Q2: I think "the increases" is poor English. The expression should be "some products will increase as low as zero...". "The increases" with the definite article 'the' refer to all the increases, which is in contradiction with the later parts. What do you think?

The focus and the prime concern is on the price increases so it's natural to start the sentence with 'the increases'.

Price increases vary a lot by type of products

Vary depending on/according to, not 'vary by'.
[QUOTE]

[thedaffodils]

Raymott & Tedtmc,

Thank you very much for your answers.


Tedtmc: thank you for pointing out another mistake in my writing.