Following redundancy negotiations, Finland's main manufacturer of sugar products, Suomen Sokeri has announced it is cutting 26 jobs at its factory in Kirkkonummi.

Before redundancy negotiations concluded there were plans for up to 40 job cuts, while the talks involved a total of 112 employees.

As a result of the changes, the company will stop raw sugar refining at the plant, in the city's Kantvik district. The development also means that it is ending production of its lump, powdered and fine-granulated sugar products in Finland.

Suomen Sokeri is part of the Finnish firm Sucros, which is a subsidiary of Germany-based Nordzucker Group.

The company plans to source the discontinued products from Nordzucker. Additionally, the firm said that its plans to refine raw sugar at Sucros' factory in Säkylä are moving forward.

The firm said that the changes were prompted by impacts of the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine and a generally unpredictable and unstable operating environment.

The sugar company also said there have been clear changes in consumer habits in recent years.

The redundancy talks began on 2 March and concluded on Monday.