In 2010, VAEX traded with Peter Maat for the first time. Since then, many cows have been exported together every year. VAEX is always in contact with Axel Blume (buyer and seller), although little contact is needed. Just a few words are all that are needed for VAEX and Maat Viehhandel to know what’s needed and what’s expected from each other. There’s mutual trust. "Trust is very important. A common saying at our company is ‘VAEX first’. VAEX is our regular customer, who we always contact first. Relationships such as the one with VAEX are very important for the future," says Peter.

The Dutchman Peter Maat (50) is the owner of Maat Viehhandel GmbH & Co. KG. He was brought up with the cattle trade from an early age. His grandparents and father were also cattle dealers. At 18, he started working as an international lorry driver on a cattle truck. Five years later, he entered the cattle trade. He saw opportunities in Mecklenburg in Germany and moved there to start trading cattle independently. In the meantime, he has been living in Germany for 25 years with his wife and three daughters and there is a successful international company Maat Viehhandel. Peter prefers to be on the road. Buying cattle. He considers working with cattle to be one of the best parts of his job. 25 years ago, he was only on the road. As a director, he’s also needed in the office now. By giving the staff a lot of freedom and responsibility, he can still get on the road. If he gets the chance, he also likes to take a ride on the truck. Besides working on the farm, he also sees this as a real hobby. 

In the future, Peter expects to go deeper rather than wider. From the calf to the consumer. Improving current processes. In addition, personality and trust are important for the cattle breeding trade. He doesn’t see digitalisation happening so quickly. People want to see each of the cows with their own eyes. Peter finds it difficult to estimate how things will turn out with the legislation and regulations concerning long-distance transport. "25 years ago, there were also discussions about this. Since then, great strides have been made to improve transport in the industry," says Peter. "From both sides, it is important to achieve a good result together VAEX and Maat Viehhandel work together to ensure that the journeys run as smoothly as possible so that the cows are exported safely and healthily."

- Maat Viehhandel has existed almost 25 years and is based in Vietgest. With a team of 20 employees, they trade cattle internationally.

- In 2006, they also acquired a slaughterhouse and an animal feed processing company.

- In 2016, they also started farming themselves and bought a farm with 900 cows.