The purpose of this article is to analyze the role of critical success factors in Short Food Supply Chain (SFSC). The study presents a small farmers' cross-cultural analysis - two Italian and two Brazilian milk and dairy producers - that shortened their Food Supply Chain (FSC) to get closer to the consumers and to deliver products with high quality and traceability, and at the same time increase profits. The reduction of distances and the elimination of intermediaries, solely, may increase production earnings in the SFSC, but it does not assure a long-term position in food markets. Success factors for SFSC were identified and retrieved from the literature and presented to three Italian and three Brazilian experts in FSC for analyzing each case. It was found that producers had cultural difficulties for SFSC model adoption, but economic reasons as cutting costs of transportation and elimination of intermediary agents justified their initiatives. However, consolidation of SFSC implementation still requires environmental protection efforts linked to better production processes in small farms, and health safeguards for consumers, as well as the preservation of the cultural heritage associated with the region of origin of the production.