Believe it or not, trees grow fruit because it helps them to grow more trees!
If you’ve ever eaten a piece of fruit (which most likely you have!) then you already know what’s usually inside: Seeds! Seeds are like tiny versions of a plant that are waiting to be planted so they can grow. Plants like it when their seeds are able to grow because it means there will continue to be more of their type of plant.
In order to help their seeds get planted, some plants grow fruit that surrounds the seeds! Animals (including people) then eat the fruit because they like the way it tastes and it gives them good nutrition. When they’re done eating the fruit, it’s the seeds inside that remain! If we’ve picked the fruit from a tree and then carried it to eat in another place, it helps to disperse the seeds by bringing them somewhere new. Sometimes the seeds also get carried and planted when an animal has eaten the seeds (such as in berries) and then the seeds come back out in the animal’s droppings! (Pretty gross, but pretty neat!)