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The dessert championship hopefuls come from Kempten in Bavaria, Birkenfeld in Rhineland-Palatinate and the island of Borkum in east Frisia.

24 contestants will enter the three-day contest in the attempt to win the title of “Best Ice Cream Flavour in the World.” As well as Europeans, Australia, Canada, the USA and Saudi Arabia are represented.

“There are interesting flavours. It's going to be exciting,” said Bavarian contestant Adriano Colle.

Born in Italy, Colle runs an ice cream parlour, Venezia, in Kempten, following in the footsteps of three generations of ice-cream makers in his family.

“I like creativity and individuality,” Colle said. “I can try anything and make any kind of ice cream I want. But the best thing is to give the ice cream a soul.”

Colle's nominaton to the finals for his creation “Spices of the Orient” (a mixture of yoghurt, cinnamon, cardamom, nougat and pistachios) has helped him to sell up to 90 kilos every day.

Birkenfeld-based Marco Vazzola is basing his bid on the secret recipe for his “Hazelnut Kisses” treat, revealing only that it contains hazelnuts from Piedmont and chocolate from Belgium and Ecuador alongside its caramel sauce.

Vazzola took over his ice cream parlour, also called Venezia, from his father, who founded it in 1972 after moving to Germany from Treviso.

“You can make anything into ice cream,” said Vazzola, who has already experimented with potato chip, gorgonzola and dark beer flavours.

Frerk Veen will be bringing ingredients for 300 kilos of ice cream with him from his home on Borkum, where he runs the “Little Borkum Ice Cream Shop”.

“I don't have anything left to prove,” says Veen, who at 51 is the oldest of the three German hopefuls. “We have great feedback every day from our customers.”

Veen backed up his claim at the selection event in Berlin by becoming the public's favourite, but it remains to be seen if he can repeat the feat with the judges in Rimini