The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a €150m loan for FrieslandCampina to conduct research and development activities in Europe.
The loan marks the bank's first loan to a company in the Dutch agricultural sector.
Founded in 1871, FrieslandCampina currently is owned by a cooperative and has presence in more than 100 countries.
The EIB's loan will help the company to sustain its innovation to strengthen its position in the competitive market.
EIB Vice-President Pim van Ballekom said: "The EIB is proud to support such a longstanding Dutch company.
"Milk and its derivatives are central to most people's diets and the importance of the research and development surrounding the products they consume should not be underestimated.
"Although we have already supported agriculture through SME credit facilities in the past, we see this operation as a clear example of what the EIB can do for this sector."
FrieslandCampina will use the funding for research and development activities in facilities around Europe. The activities include focus on the areas of nutrition, food structuring, packaging and process technology, as well as on sensory and dietary demand aspects of dairy products.
Royal FrieslandCampina CEO Hein Schumacher said: "The EIB loan gives us the opportunity to finance our European research, development and innovation activities under favourable conditions.
"These activities are mainly carried out in our innovation centre in Wageningen where more than 300 R&D employees in various disciplines from all over the world are working together to unlock the nutritional potential of milk."
In March, the bank agreed to make $100m equity investment in Egypt-based United Sugar Company (USC), a subsidiary of Savola Group, to boost the agribusiness sector in the country.
It also offered a loan of €15m ($16.8m) to a Kazakhstan's dairy company FoodMaster in May.
