Max Meier launches Aonic Club, a membership that sells supplements at cost and uses AI agents to run operations, with a pitch to cut the cost of living
AI has arrived. But the cost of almost everything keeps climbing. Today we launch Aonic Club, built on one idea: use AI to radically reduce the cost of living. Together, we can End the markup:
Context
Aonic is testing whether AI run operations can strip enough cost out of retail to make an at cost membership model work, a concrete example of AI aimed at consumer prices.
Aonic is a San Francisco supplement company cofounded by Max Meier and fitness coach Senada Greca, and the launch is described in its own press release. Meier previously cofounded the fashion search site Stylight and the car subscription company FINN, according to the release. Claims about savings come from the company.
Deep dive
On October 13, Max Meier posted: AI has arrived. But the cost of almost everything keeps climbing. Today we launch Aonic Club, built on one idea: use AI to radically reduce the cost of living.
Aonic's press release says members pay one annual fee, every product sells at cost and the membership is the club's only profit. It says the club launches with protein and supplements and plans to expand into groceries, beauty, personal care, pet food, health and household essentials. Meier said in the release that inflation is the main concern for Americans right now and that big companies are falling short at using AI to help people pay less.
Athletech News reported that Aonic sources ingredients for protein, creatine, electrolytes and vitamins directly, and uses AI to improve sourcing and operations and cut out brokers, distributors and retailers. It said founding members pay $49 for the first year, with regular membership at $99 the first year and $149 a year after.
Aonic job listings describe the model as the Costco club approach rebuilt online, with AI agents running sourcing, content, forecasting and customer service. They claim this removes the 30% to 40% of retail and marketing costs in consumer prices, and state a goal of 1 million members and a $10 billion company within a few years. Those are company goals, not results.
What to expect next
Watch whether Aonic publishes member numbers and prices that show the at cost model undercutting rivals like Costco's Kirkland brand, as its job listings claim.
Also watch whether it expands beyond supplements into groceries and household goods as planned, and how much of its operations really run on AI agents, since that is the core of its cost argument. Customer reviews of product quality will matter too.