New owner Simon Tiefenbach (52), originally from Germany near Stuttgart and the Black Forest, said his grandfather had been a butcher and he undertook his apprenticeship at the same butchery.
At 21 he got his master's qualification and was at that time the "youngest master butcher in Germany".
In Germany he worked for large supermarket chains. He also had a restaurant there for five years, so he knew about cooking, he said.
Mr Tiefenbach has been in New Zealand for six years. He fell in love with the country on a tourist visit.
Butchers were on the "most wanted" list for immigrants, at the time, possibly due to many leaving for higher wages in Australia.
After spending some time in Auckland, including brushing up on his English at a language school, he came to Wanaka where he worked within Wanaka Wholesale Mediterranean Market and developed his own business, Deep Creek Delicatessen Corner Ltd which has a mobile store.
A keen sausage and small goods maker, he won four medals and a supreme award for his gourmet pork and fennel offering, at last year's Great New Zealand Sausage competition.
Mr Tiefenbach said he had been looking for a challenge.
He was keen to retain the traditional side of the business but develop the delicatessen side more.
He had found in Wanaka that many of the customers who sought his European-style smallgoods were people who had travelled overseas and he hoped to cater for those people and the "big European community" in Dunedin.
Free-range chicken and pork will also feature in the store.
Mr Eskrick, who recently turned 65, is staying on with his new boss until Christmas and will also do some part-time work next year, taking over the chopping board full-time again briefly when Mr Tiefenbach returns to Germany for a trip in March.
He sheepishly admitted he had slept in on his first day with Mr Tiefenbach and worried he might get the sack.
He was pleased the shop was continuing as a butchery as there had been a butcher on the site since the 1880s.
There had been much interest in the business, as well as many "dreamers".
The much-photographed shop window design, featuring the name of Mr Eskrick's father Fred, will remain, although Mr Tiefenbach will be trading under the Deep Creek Delicatessen banner.
While he is often asked if the name is linked to any particular Deep Creek, Mr Tiefenbach said it was formed from his own name - tief being deep and bach meaning creek.
