diff --git a/pkg/format/format.go b/pkg/format/format.go
index 150af44c2a..0386f098da 100644
--- a/pkg/format/format.go
+++ b/pkg/format/format.go
@@ -37,11 +37,16 @@ func Log(podName string, containerName string, output string) {
 func LogTo(w io.Writer, pod string, container string, output string) {
 	if output != "" {
 		for _, line := range regex.Split(output, -1) {
+			// retain the original format of phase outputs for ease
+			// of processing later.
 			if strings.Contains(line, pkgout.PhaseOpString) {
+				if _, err := w.Write([]byte(line + "\n")); err != nil {
+					log.PrintTo(w, err.Error())
+				}
 				continue
 			}
 
-			if line != "" {
+			if strings.TrimSpace(line) != "" {
 				fields := field.M{
 					"Pod":       pod,
 					"Container": container,
diff --git a/pkg/format/format_test.go b/pkg/format/format_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a5f63f9d68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/format/format_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+package format
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/kanisterio/kanister/pkg/output"
+	. "gopkg.in/check.v1"
+)
+
+func Test(t *testing.T) { TestingT(t) }
+
+type FormatTest struct{}
+
+var _ = Suite(&FormatTest{})
+
+func (s *FormatTest) TestLogToForPhaseOutputs(c *C) {
+	const (
+		pod       = "test-pod-logto"
+		container = "test-container-logto"
+	)
+
+	// invariant: format.LogTo() will not format phase outputs.
+
+	var testCases = []struct {
+		keys   []string
+		values []string
+	}{
+		{
+			keys:   []string{"key1"},
+			values: []string{"value1"},
+		},
+		{
+			keys:   []string{"key1", "key2"},
+			values: []string{"value1", "value2"},
+		},
+		{
+			keys:   []string{"key1", "key2", "key3"},
+			values: []string{"value1", "value2", "value3"},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		expected := ""
+		input := &bytes.Buffer{}
+		actual := &bytes.Buffer{}
+
+		for i, key := range tc.keys {
+			// create the phase output for each pair of the given k/v
+			kv := &bytes.Buffer{}
+			err := output.PrintOutputTo(kv, key, tc.values[i])
+			c.Assert(err, IsNil)
+
+			kvRaw := fmt.Sprintf("%s\n", kv.String())
+			if _, err := input.WriteString(kvRaw); err != nil {
+				c.Assert(err, IsNil)
+			}
+
+			expected += fmt.Sprintf("%s {\"key\":\"%s\",\"value\":\"%s\"}\n", output.PhaseOpString, key, tc.values[i])
+		}
+		LogTo(actual, pod, container, input.String())
+		c.Check(expected, DeepEquals, actual.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func (s *FormatTest) TestLogToForNormalLogs(c *C) {
+	const (
+		pod       = "test-pod-logto"
+		container = "test-container-logto"
+	)
+
+	var testCases = []struct {
+		input    string
+		expected string
+		count    int // count represents how many "Out"s in the results
+	}{
+		{
+			input:    "",
+			expected: "",
+			count:    1,
+		},
+		{
+			input:    "test logs",
+			expected: `"Out":"test logs"`,
+			count:    1,
+		},
+		{
+			input:    "test logs\ntest logs",
+			expected: `"Out":"test logs"`,
+			count:    2, // the line break causes 2 log lines to be printed
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		actual := &bytes.Buffer{}
+		LogTo(actual, pod, container, tc.input)
+
+		c.Assert(strings.Contains(actual.String(), tc.expected), Equals, true)
+		c.Assert(strings.Count(actual.String(), tc.expected), Equals, tc.count)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/output/output.go b/pkg/output/output.go
index 1d8ca40d4a..8608df9c8b 100644
--- a/pkg/output/output.go
+++ b/pkg/output/output.go
@@ -72,6 +72,11 @@ func PrintOutput(key, value string) error {
 	return fPrintOutput(os.Stdout, key, value)
 }
 
+// PrintOutput prints the output of the `kando output` command to w.
+func PrintOutputTo(w io.Writer, key, value string) error {
+	return fPrintOutput(w, key, value)
+}
+
 func fPrintOutput(w io.Writer, key, value string) error {
 	outString, err := marshalOutput(key, value)
 	if err != nil {