Honolulu is among the top U.S. cities where people use organic food products, according to an analysis from Scarborough Research.

Scarborough found that 16 percent of Honolulu adults used an organic product during the past month, ranking it in the top 33 markets among 279 surveyed by Scarborough. San Francisco ranked first, with 35 percent of adults saying they had used an organic item in the previous 30 days.

The ranking comes despite Honolulu lacking top national chain stores with organic products, which include the "supercenter" type of Wal-Mart stores, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.

Hawai'i has several independently owned organic food stores, including the state's largest, Down To Earth Natural Foods and Lifestyle, with stores on O'ahu and Maui; Kokua Market, a Honolulu cooperative; Umeke Market Natural Foods & Deli in Kahala; and Hawaiian Moons Natural Foods and Mana Foods on Maui.

Down To Earth said it plans to enlarge the Honolulu store with a redesign and renovation, renovate and expand the Kahului store and add a warehouse to allow larger purchases and lower prices.

While Whole Foods has announced plans to open in Honolulu, there are no Trader Joe's or Wal-Mart Supercenters here. Whole Foods' planned stores on O'ahu and Maui will collectively occupy almost 160,000 square feet.

"Whole Foods and Trader Joe's have established themselves in the organics market, and as such are more popular among organics users," said Alisa Joseph, a Scarborough Research vice president.

But a high percentage of organics users shop at prominent U.S. stores such as Wal-Mart because of its significant local market penetration. Other chains favored by organic shoppers include Safeway, Costco and Target's SuperTarget stores.

The research also found that organics consumers tend to be younger, affluent and big spenders at grocery stores. It found that, nationally, organics consumers spend an average of $127 on their weekly household groceries, $12 more than the national average.