The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 plus 3 plus 5 letter word DUBLIN BAY PRAWN
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
D
U
B
L
I
N
B
A
Y
P
R
A
W
N
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Provider of course" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case provider of course = dublin bay prawn.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.