Raised on a West Otago farm, he has put 25 years of working in the meat industry to good use while developing the Christchurch start-up.
The frozen bite-sized pieces of beef processed from dairy and beef cows will go on New World shelves at the start of next month.
Among the expected buyers will be working parents with little spare time in their busy lives who are willing to pay for the convenience of a quick meal.
Mr Cameron said he saw a business opportunity for red meat to be more consumer-focused with more ready-to-cook products.
The beef bites were from less-used cuts of beef aimed at providing higher-end consumers with a tasty and nutritious meal.
"We know that consumers are busy and most people have two working parents in households these days and kids have an abundance of sports to play, so you need something in the back of the freezer when you forgot to get the dinner out in the morning, or if people turn up unexpectedly. So this is the box of beef sitting in the freezer as your staple for a go-to for emergencies."
A lot of research went into identifying the dining needs of consumers and matching this with flavour profiles.
"My family have been sick to death of these beef bites because I’ve been force- feeding them the past two years through the product development process."
Designed to be cooked in an air fryer, the bites have a crispy coating and will be initially launched in Korean barbecue and original flavours.
They are being manufactured at Pukekohe at this stage because many factories limited to fish and chicken production were unwilling to accept coated beef.
The plan was to supply New World supermarkets in the Auckland area, until the Little Ardroy Beef Company became one of two winners in Foodstuffs’ New World Emerge Awards for grocery innovators.
Instead, the trial over three months is being extended to every New World shop in the country as one of the prizes.
Mr Cameron said the award had opened the doors to scale up the business quickly and he was working on the supply challenge of a wider launch.
This could mean bringing investors on board, while he was also working to secure a processor after a Gore business went under earlier this year.
"Like any business, the joys of a start-up is you get one problem solved and you’re off to something else to be reformulated or changed or tweaked. One advantage of talking to all the meat plants on a daily basis is you have a few contacts."
Mr Cameron has been developing the business idea while working fulltime as managing director of Sure Good Foods, a large Canadian importer, wholesaler and distributor which has just opened a Christchurch office.
His original aim was to sell the farm’s beef directly to market after finishing his studies at Lincoln University.
This career path deviated to helping the Mathias family develop their meat business, working for Kerry Foods, then helping develop the Silere Alpine merino project for Alliance in a joint venture with the NZ Merino Company.
A friend wintering dairy cattle at Pigeon Bay on Banks Peninsula is supplying livestock for the beef bites.
Mr Cameron is also looking at releasing beef tenders made from lean beef likely in the middle of next year.
He is in talks with Lincoln University Professor Dr Pablo Gregorini to supply beef for the tenders from the university’s innovative research dairy farm.
"The next batch of cattle will come off this research farm in April and we will hopefully be able to pick these cattle up and see the tenderness we need in the leg muscles."
The other winner in a field of 10 finalists from 80 entries in the competition was Auckland’s Butter Luxe Co with an Oaty Butter by founder Allie Hemmings.
