The visitors saw how sausages are made in Britain and looked at delicacies unfamiliar in Germany, such as haggis, as part of their visit to Palmers, in Brook Street.
Alfons Ziller, Marriane Wahner and Freds Hoenig from the specialist Munich School for Butchers visited the family business as part of a one-week stay in Devon. The cultural exchange was organised by Plymouth College of Further Eductaion, and after visiting Tavistock, the German butchers spent the following day in Barnstaple.
The visitors noted the similarities between small family butchers in Devon and their home region. 'In Bavaria now we have a lot of small butchers, but in Northern Germany there are many more large factories,' said Mr Hoenig.
Mr Hoenig said a German butcher's shop would have lots more sausages than an English one. The issues of hygiene and level of meat industry regulations were similar in both countries, he added.
Mr Hoenig said the specialist butchers' college in Munich, at which they taught, trained students in both the theory and practice of the industry, with their time split between college and work placements.
The group spent the morning examining the different cuts of meat and method of making sausages in Britain as demonstrated by butcher Roger Bird.
Mr Bird, who owns and runs Palmers with his son, was pleased to welcome the German guests to his shop. 'It has been a useful exercise. It is good to compare practices with different countries. They wanted to see a local family butcher just to give them an idea of the industry in Britain. We compared regulations, cuts and recipes,' he said.