diff --git a/consume.go b/consume.go
index c21759d..0f41b6e 100644
--- a/consume.go
+++ b/consume.go
@@ -361,43 +361,36 @@ type consumedMessage struct {
 }
 
 func newConsumedMessage(m *sarama.ConsumerMessage, encodeKey, encodeValue string) consumedMessage {
-	result := consumedMessage{Partition: m.Partition, Offset: m.Offset}
+	result := consumedMessage{
+		Partition: m.Partition,
+		Offset:    m.Offset,
+		Key:       encodeBytes(m.Key, encodeKey),
+		Value:     encodeBytes(m.Value, encodeValue),
+	}
 
 	if !m.Timestamp.IsZero() {
 		result.Timestamp = &m.Timestamp
 	}
 
-	if len(m.Value) == 0 {
-		result.Value = nil
-	} else {
-		var str string
-		switch encodeValue {
-		case "hex":
-			str = hex.EncodeToString(m.Value)
-		case "base64":
-			str = base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(m.Value)
-		default:
-			str = string(m.Value)
-		}
-		result.Value = &str
-	}
-
-	if len(m.Key) == 0 {
-		result.Key = nil
-	} else {
-		var str string
-		switch encodeKey {
-		case "hex":
-			str = hex.EncodeToString(m.Key)
-		case "base64":
-			str = base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(m.Key)
-		default:
-			str = string(m.Key)
-		}
-		result.Key = &str
+	return result
+}
+
+func encodeBytes(data []byte, encoding string) *string {
+	if data == nil {
+		return nil
 	}
 
-	return result
+	var str string
+	switch encoding {
+	case "hex":
+		str = hex.EncodeToString(data)
+	case "base64":
+		str = base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(data)
+	default:
+		str = string(data)
+	}
+
+	return &str
 }
 
 func (cmd *consumeCmd) partitionLoop(out chan printContext, pc sarama.PartitionConsumer, p int32, end int64) {