shule1

[Edit: I misread your question and thought you were talking about selling fruits. See my next post.]

From my observations, it appears that the general public tends to know about a handful of peppers. Here are some (but I'm sure there are some others):

* Bell peppers (People don't tend to distinguish much between varieties. Most people don't seem to realize there are more than one or a few varieties.)
* Jalapeño (People don't tend to distinguish between varieties.): these are common in the grocery store in a whole lot of forms, including pickled, as flavoring for chips, fresh, frozen, in pizza places, etc.
* Banana peppers (sweet ones): these are common on/with pizza, in salad bars, pickled, etc.
* Serrano; these are common in the grocery store, fresh and frozen
* Cayenne: mostly familiar as powder, but also to a lot of gardeners who aren't super into peppers
* Habañero: While these aren't particularly common, they are well-known and more common than most peppers for a variety of uses, including, notably, salsa.
* Ghost (Bhut Jolokia); Ghost peppers are trendy.
* Pimento: primarily those in green olives
* Paprika: primarily as a powder—people might not know paprika comes from peppers
* Poblano: I've seen Poblano salsa in the grocery store (and Poblanos are common in the Mexican stores)
* Chilaca: These are common in Mexican stores.
* Anaheim (known more commonly by other names, though, like California pepper, or New Mexican pepper, depending on where they're grown; these are common in Mexican stores)
* Chile Del Arbol: This is common in Mexican stores (sold dry, in bags, for a low price).
* Thai: These appear to be common in Mexican stores.
* Tabasco: for hot sauce

When I say something is common in Mexican stores, keep in mind that I haven't been to a lot of Mexican stores, but they seem to be mainstays for those I have been to in eastern Oregon.

Carolina Reapers actually aren't well-known to most people, despite being the world's hottest pepper. So, if you sold those, you might want to advertise that they're the world's hottest pepper more so than the variety name. Facts and information can help a product to sell. Be prepared for people to tell you that some other pepper that once was thought to be the hottest is the hottest, though (like Habaneros, Ghost peppers, or the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion). Maybe make a chart that shows when what was the hottest, and put it up by the peppers. Also, be prepared for people to be afraid to eat anything hotter than a jalapeno. They'll probably need some incentive. Also, some might not realize which peppers are hot and which ones are not hot (not everyone knows that for peppers, sweet means 'not hot/spicy'). Make sure they know.

You'll be lucky if an individual has heard of *all* of those others I listed, too, but those are a lot of the ones that lots of people know about in the USA (at least in the regions I've lived in), and that are commonly used commercially. People might not realize that pimentos are peppers, though.

If you just call some peppers chile peppers (and put the actual variety name in the fine print), that might be more marketable with the general populace (not with pepper enthusiasts), since people don't always distinguish between kinds of chile peppers. If you put the real variety name in the fine print, that should make pepper enthusiasts happy (don't leave it out, even for bell peppers, jalapenos, etc., or they won't be as interested). Don't be afraid of them saving the seeds and growing your peppers, either. They'll probably grow another pepper anyway, and they'll probably buy peppers again anyway.

What I would suggest doing, if you want to make other peppers more marketable, is not to worry about making a profit on the lesser known peppers the first year or two, and instead give away a free pod of those peppers with each purchase. They may actually remember and want them in the years to come, and they may tell other people about them. In fact, free samples might help you sell them the same year, and attract more customers. They may try one and decide to buy more of that kind in the same visit.