This will be a sweet year for Minnesotans who love fresh fruit, according to a press release. The Fruit Club plans to expand deliveries from orchards across the United States to customers in more cities in Minnesota during this year. The new sites will bring the number of stops in the state to about 35.

The company delivers fruit by the truckload directly to residents of Minnesota and other states in the region. The Sioux Falls, South Dakota, company began operations in 2013. It initially had three stops in Minnesota. By the end of 2015, the number of distribution sites in the state had increased to 25.

“We’re going to be adding three more sites in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area this quarter, and during the year we’ll be adding 10 sites across the state,” said Irina Kleinsasser, cofounder of The Fruit Club. “We’re venturing into Wisconsin now, too.”

Truckloads of fruit from orchards across the United States are delivered monthly to dozens of cities in nine states. The type of fruit varies from month to month, depending on what’s fresh and available. Customers order their fruit in advance at www.thefruitclub.net, select a pickup location and pay at the site.

According to a press release, consumers in the Upper Midwest obviously like having fresh fruit delivered to them. Business at The Fruit Club has increased steadily during the past three years, and sales are projected to reach a new high in 2016.

The company sold a few truckloads of fresh cherries during its first year of business. Expanded fruit choices and new truck routes pushed sales up to more than 1,000 tons in 2015.

“We’re looking at tripling business in 2016. We expect to sell more than 3,000 tons of fruit this year,” Kleinsasser said.

By cutting out the middlemen, The Fruit Club is able to bring good, farm-fresh fruit directly from orchards to families at a reasonable price, she said.

“No one in the United States is doing what we’re doing.”

The addition of new markets isn’t the only factor driving business growth. Communities with companies that have strong wellness programs are showing increasing interest in service from The Fruit Club, said Iryna Vercellino, chief operations officer.

“They want us to come and serve them,” she said. “They want to eat healthier.”

The Fruit Club has more than 200,000 members. There is no membership fee. Members may sign up for a newsletter to share recipes or get texts with delivery information.

A different type of fruit is featured every month. Peaches from Georgia are the top seller, followed by cherries and strawberries from the West Coast. Cherries typically are available in June, and peaches become available in July. Orders for strawberries are being taken for February and March.

Red and green grapes from California were added to the fruit options in 2015. Changes in 2016 will include the addition of fresh pineapples. The pineapples will come from a fourth-generation family grower in Costa Rica. Orders will be taken in April.

Representatives of The Fruit Club visit orchards and meet with growers before buying fruit for customers.

In addition to Minnesota and South Dakota, The Fruit Club has pickup locations in Iowa, North Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming, Missouri and Illinois. In addition to adding Wisconsin, deliveries to Arizona, Georgia and Texas are planned. Arrangements are made in advance to park trucks in community locations such as parking lots.

Stops currently are being made at the following Minnesota communities: Albert Lea, Austin, Breckenridge, Brooklyn Center, Canby, Cottonwood, Detroit Lakes, Duluth, Fairmont, Fergus Falls, Garfield, Hinkley, Lake Benton, Lakeville, Litchfield, Luverne, Mankato, Marshall, New Ulm, Owatonna, Pipestone, Rochester, Sauk Centre, Shakopee, Slayton, St. Joseph, St. Paul, Willmar, Windom, Winona and Worthington.

Sherry Forsberg of Luverne is a loyal customer who assists The Fruit Club with operations in Minnesota.

“I never used to eat a lot of fruit, but this is so much fresher. You’d be surprised how much better it is from the fruit in a grocery store,” she said.

Forsberg remembers the first time she hauled fruit to Rochester. People lined up in the rain to get it, she said.

“It’s the best feeling in the world when people appreciate you for bringing fruit that they would never, ever be able to get otherwise here in the Midwest. They just can’t wait for the next truck,” she said.

Sometimes there are not enough orders in a community to warrant a truck stop. So The Fruit Club is making arrangements with delivery services, including the U.S. Postal Service, to ship individual boxes of fruit to customers.

“We’re going to offer delivery anywhere in the United States,” said Kleinsasser, who is also the president of operations and sales at Logistics Buddy LLC, a full-service transportation and logistics company also based in Sioux Falls.

The Fruit Club is a sister company to Logistics Buddy. The two businesses share operating space.

In addition to www.thefruitclub.net, more information about The Fruit Club is available on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thefruitclubtruck. The Fruit Club Minnesota has its own Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TheFruitClubforMinnesota. Minnesota members may join the Facebook group nearest them for news such as delivery information.