Banana imports are headed for a second straight record gain this year, fueled by fad diets and households looking for cheap food amid the recession.

Imports of the fruit, mostly of the Cavendish or Senorita varieties, rose 34 percent from a year earlier to 540,000 tons in the five months to May, after totaling a record 1.09 million tons in 2008, according to Finance Ministry data.

Sales of bananas boosted consumer spending by ¥77.7 billion in the fiscal year that ended in March, according to Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, who cited "a growing tendency among households to save money, as well as the diet boom."