ResIN Wood Designs gets on board with unique products

Initially looking for something that would provide relaxation and more time with his family, Giovanni Gallo now finds himself with a business venture and a chance to give back to the community.

It started last year with a request from his brother, Paolo, for help with an art project. He wanted to create a design with fluid acrylic and asked Giovanni to create a board for him.

“Little did I know his intention was to see if I was capable of creating a piece of wood that would be appealing to the eye in an artistic way,” Giovanni says.

Two weeks later, ResIN Wood Designs was launched. A small fully-licensed and insured business, they create 100% food-grade charcuterie cutting boards.

“It’s truly an amazing feeling when you can create art that people will appreciate,” Giovanni says.

The Gallo brothers utilize repurposed and wood sourced through local processing plants, typically spruce, Baltic birch, maple, cherry, walnut and cedar. They use bees wax for treating the wood and a food grade stain from Quebec.

“We incorporate resin to give the board a unique appearance that creates not only a presence for food presentation, but is also a conversation piece,” Giovanni says

So far, he has completed pieces from small charcuterie boards to end tables, dining tables, coffee tables, butcher blocks and glass block lights. Most recently, he completed a set of high top tables for Scott Mcnab, who operates the co-work space, The Vault.

Giovanni comes to this venture with a background in the service industry. He has worked in car sales, financing and insurance. He was the business development manager at The Chronicle- Journal.

ResIN Wood Designs has teamed with the Regional Health Sciences Foundation. Proceeds from the sale of the boards support the Northern Cardiac Fund.

Giovanni has been able to provide his products to businesses such as Bar Italia, Fuse by Daytona’s, Salt & Pepper Catreing, as well as realtor Christine Lannon, Dell Mechanical Inc. He is also working on a collaboration with i4 Architecture and Lisa Sandham, who offer the items to their clients as gifts of appreciation.

“Being local and providing a product that is unique to Thunder Bay, I am able to support other entrepreneurs and I am able to contribute and support local programs, like the Thunder Bay Cardiac Fund,” Giovanni says.