[Akai-Sesui]

How about this?

1.) Process chickens
2.) Sell off as many as fresh chicken as possible
3.) Freeze remaining chicken
4.) Sell off as many frozen chickens as possible
5.) Take the frozen chickens that are near the end of their shelf life and roast them
6.) Sell off as many roasted chickens as possible
7.) Take the remaining unsold roasted chickens and reprocess as chicken salad
8.) Sell off as much of the chicken salad as possible
9.) Take remaining chicken salad and send for processing for sub-human consumption

So the further down the chain we go, the cheaper the chicken is.
So really...that 5.99 chicken is just the stores trying to reduce waste. Both the consumer and producer benefit.