As Primo's Castaneda describes it, the relationship with Accounting Principals is based on an understanding of Primo's specific and general staffing needs -- along with awareness of his company's "eight values," a cultural list of qualities it prizes in its personnel. (The eight, in no particular order, according to Castaneda: flexibility, integrity, competitive edge, respect, a customer-first sense, innovation, passion, and fun.)

For Primo Water, the Accounting Principals relationship is part of a broader outsourcing strategy, in which Primo turns to others for such things as bottling, equipment manufacturing, and water-bottle distribution, for example. That's one reason that employment is in the low hundreds rather than the thousands. Primo's water is purified and bottled at more than 60 locations, and made available at retail locations nationwide.

And the recruiting relationship is about to get even busier, it seems. Castaneda says the company envisions adding two or three to the finance department this year, with a more-significant spurt possible next year.

Lately, Primo's growth has partly reflected the environmental backlash against water in small plastic bottles -- which benefits large-bottle "water exchange" systems like Primo, Castaneda says. Primo's latest financial report showed fourth-quarter sales surging 61%, to $12.7 million. The net loss from continuing operations -- in part recognizing higher expenses from its increased headcount -- widened to $10.7 million from $3.2 million, but the company reported non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA of $206,000.

'Keurig for Cold'