Advance warning, I have not had time to try this yet (But want to)…
For non-browser swallowing spaces, Mary has this hint here; Where did my Text Area extra spaces go?
(ALT + 255).
So, my quick thought is, since the text is coming from a controller, build the string in the controller that includes the special characters to display the text as needed.
(Also, let me check in with the groov software team and see if they have any thoughts).