European Scientific Journal February 2018 edition Vol.14, No.4 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431 1 A Resource-Based Perspective to Assess Firms’ Profitability in the Food Industry: Evidence from the Italian Cheese Industry Eugenio D’Angelo, (PhD) Pegaso Telematic University, Naples, Italy Doi: 10.19044/esj.2018.v14n4p1 URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.19044/esj.2018.v14n4p1 Abstract The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of firms’ competitive advantage and performance in the Italian food industry, with specific reference to the cheese sector. This aim is consistent with the 3-year research program outlined by the agreement between the Pegaso Telematic University and the Gerardi & Fortura Limited Liability Company, subscribed in November 2015 (02/24/2015) and assigned to the author. The paper investigates the source of superior performance in the Italian cheese industry using the well-known Resource Based Theory. The empirical analysis is conducted on a sample of 110 firms and over a 10-year period of observation. An OLS regression is used to evaluate the impact of a bundle of resources on firms’ performance. ‑indings show that physical and financial resources have the major effect on firms’ return on assets, whereas intangible assets, capabilities and human resources have a lower and ambiguous effect. Keywords: Resource-Based View, Performance, Food Industry Introduction The objective of this paper is to analyze the relationship between firms’ resources and their performance in the Italian food industry, with a particular focus on the cheese sector. The focus of the paper origins form a 3- year research program defined by the agreement between the Pegaso Telematic University and the Gerardi & Fortura Limited Liability Company, subscribed in November 2015 (02/24/2015). The paper addresses the theme of competitive advantage using the resource-based perspective (Barney, 1991), in order to determine which category of firms resources are more effective in generating superior performance. The need for an exploratory study in this field is useful mainly to detect entry barriers that may discourage a new player from investing in this industry and establish a cheese factory.