"And you know Hawera was not really the environment to celebrate this big win. There was nothing happening here, there was no vibe, which was a bit sad."
He admitted missing the big celebratory environment there would had been in his home country. "I would love to have been there. It would have been so exciting and a lot of fun."
Several customers had been in and asked if he was shouting free coffee because of the victory.
"Oh no, I won't be doing that. Business is business."
Holger and his wife Annette are just four years into their business and have already won the New Zealand National Ice Cream Award Gold and Silver medals two years running for their exquisite Zabel's gelato icecream.
The couple had toured New Zealand about 15 years ago and lived for seven years in China, where Holger was a business manager and consultant.
They returned to Germany but decided life was too short to stay on the "same path", so they moved on again.
