The flip side of inflation: "Skimpflation" is hitting everything from food to hotels

The hottest inflation in 40 years has prompted manufacturers to resort to "shrinkflation," a cost-saving tactic to reduce the size of packages while keeping the same price. Now, businesses are trying another way to save money: "skimpflation."

Some companies are reformulating their products using cheaper ingredients to reduce their manufacturing costs, a stratagem some have dubbed skimpflation, according to consumer advocate Edgar Dworsky, the founder of Consumer World. The change typically isn't communicated to consumers, who may be unaware of the ingredient change yet are charged the same price for the product.

One recent example of skimpflation that consumers did notice involved Conagra's Smart Balance spread, a dairy-free butter substitute. Conagra recently changed its formulation to reduce its share of vegetable oil from 64% to 39% — an almost 40% reduction in vegetable oil.