Fast food entrepreneur Jack Cowin says plant-based meat products his company has been developing with an arm of the CSIRO could be available in retailers and Hungry Jack's outlets as soon as next month.

Mr Cowin's investment vehicle Competitive Foods and the CSIRO's investment fund Main Sequence Ventures are among the financial backers of v2food, which is developing plant-based products made from legumes.

Meatless burgers represent a huge potential market for Hungry Jack's, Jack Cowin says. Credit:Louie Douvis

"The last taste test I had, I thought they were tricking me. Over the decades I’ve eaten probably as many hamburgers as anyone has in this country. When you taste it [the product], people won't be able to tell the difference," Mr Cowin said.

Over the past eight months a team at v2food, led by former PepsiCo and Masterfoods research director Nick Hazell, has been working to develop the product as the start-up races to get on the shelves in an increasingly crowded marketplace of meat alternatives.